It's nearly time, lads! The return of the Premier League is almost upon us and it's time for punters up-and-down the land to showcase their true betting pedigree and bash the bookies...
Players In
Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund - £20m), Aaron Mooy (Melbourne City - free), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ufa - £1.7m), Nolito (Celta Vigo - £13.8m), Leroy Sane (Schalke - £37m), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras - £27m), Marlos Moreno (Atletico Nacional - £4.75m) and John Stones (Everton - £47.5m)
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Players Out
Martin Demichelis (released), Richard Wright (retired), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras - loan), Marlos Moreno (Deportivo La Coruna - loan) Enes Unal (FC Twente - loan) and Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield - loan)
Season Preview
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An excellent window in terms of incomings at Manchester City. The addition of Ilkay Gundogan, although he won't be fully fit until September, is a great and much-needed one - City have been crying out for a player who can dictate play and Gundogan provides just that.
We also desperately required new ideas in attack, hence the signings of Nolito and Leroy Sane. The former is a steal at around £14m when you consider the fact he scored 12 goals and grabbed seven assists last season for Celta Vigo.
As for Sane, City are mainly paying for a potential with this signing but there's every chance he becomes a key member of the team this season. He is one of the most promising youngsters in world football and I cannot wait to see how he does under the guidance of Guardiola.
Similarly, the signings of Ukrainian youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko and Brazilian starlet Gabriel Jesus proves City are very much thinking about the future.
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Finally bringing in John Stones this summer has completed an almost perfect window for City, though it would be made better if we could offload some of the dead wood in our squad.
There's renewed optimism around the club at the moment and rightly so with the appointment of Pep Guardiola, who has been a breath of fresh air already and has made his mark on the team.
I expect City to be much sharper this season in their fitness levels - a basic expectation for a Guardiola side.
Pep does have a job on his hands though, as this is a squad that underperformed massively last season and he is tasked with completely changing the mentality. But he is the perfect candidate to take City the next level and will take certain players to new heights.
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Prediction-wise, I think we will definitely finish in the top two but whether we win the league or not may depend on the fitness of Vincent Kompany. City are taking their time with him in the hope that he can finally overcome his wretched injury troubles.
Moreover, I think we will win either the FA Cup or EFL Cup and have another strong showing in the Champions League this season. We reached the semi-finals last term but really let it slip with a lifeless display in the away leg against Real Madrid. Pep winning the Champions League in his first season at the helm is the dream.
Key Player
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Kevin De Bruyne was absolutely sensational in his first season at the club and frighteningly, has not even scratched the surface yet. I truly believe we would have mounted a more concrete title challenge had he not picked up an injury against Everton in January.
If we play him in his correct position as a number ten, we will see the very best of him and I would tip him to improve on his impressive record last season, which would be quite a feat.
I'm also expecting big things from Fernandinho yet again. He was my Player of the Season last year purely because of his consistency. Pep has already stated his admiration for the Brazilian and I can quite easily see him playing about five different positions throughout the season. City fans adore him, hopefully opposition fans can see how good he is too.
Best Bets
On SkyBet, you can get 500/1 on Guardiola and his team to win the quadruple but any well-grounded City fan will tell you that's probably not going to happen (we'll find a way to cock it up).
6/1 on City going unbeaten in the Premier League at home may be worth a shout, but with the amount of attacking prowess City have in their ranks and a somewhat leaky defence, 10/1 on every Manchester City Premier League game having over 0.5 goals is the punt for us with SkyBet.
Words By: @JoshLawless_
