City show they mean business

WHEN former Newcastle United midfielder Hugo Viana was linked with a top executive role at Manchester City, eyebrows were raised as to whether he was the man capable of ensuring Pep Guardiola’s side stay at the summit of English football.

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If the jury was still out on the Portuguese chief and his performance so far, any doubts will likely have been blown away given the size of the statement sent in just 10 days of this summer transfer window.

By the time the first of two transfer deadlines arrived on Tuesday, the dethroned Premier League champions had confirmed four signings; Rayan Cherki [£34m], Tijjani Reijnders [£46.5m], Rayan Ait-Nouri [£31m] and Marcus Bettinelli [‘nominal fee’].

Over £111m worth of talent purchased in just over a week, following on from a spend of almost £180m back in January.