Manchester City players have already acted as if the summer is coming. At a leaving party that ran from 8pm to 1:30am, Bernardo Silva and John Stones were being treated like outgoing men, and the reporting now says both will leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of this season.

Why the exits matter now

The pair are out of contract in June and won't be signing new deals. That turns the rebuild into a practical issue rather than a distant planning exercise, because Manchester City are preparing to lose two established senior figures at once.

Silva's case is the easier one to explain on football terms. Simon Bajkowski described him as “obviously irreplaceable because of the number of roles that he can play and his experience working with Guardiola for so long.” He has made 34 Premier League appearances, with 2 goals and 4 assists, which shows both his availability and how hard it will be to replace his blend of output and flexibility.

Stones is a different sort of departure, but no less significant in squad terms. He has managed 7 Premier League appearances and 363 minutes, which underlines how stop-start his season has been even before the exit talk took hold. Manchester City are still losing a player who has long been part of the core group.

The club sit second in the Premier League on 71 points from 34 matches, with Arsenal on 76 from 35. They also have five matches left, starting with Brentford on Saturday, so the squad discussion is happening in the middle of the run-in, not after it.

Guardiola uncertainty does not stop City moving

Pep Guardiola’s future is part of the background, and the brief does not confirm that he is leaving. Even so, Bajkowski said the “recruitment team rule” applies and pointed to Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and potentially Anderson as examples of business already moving forward despite the uncertainty around Guardiola.

That is the sensible way to read City’s position. The manager situation may shape timing and priorities, but it is not being used as a reason to freeze the market. The second angle in the brief is clear on that point, and it matters because the next steps will have to cover more than one hole if Silva and Stones both go.

The leaving party sounds like a soft detail, but it fits the wider picture. City are not waiting for the summer to begin before thinking about change. They are already talking and behaving as if it has started, with five league matches still to play and two senior exits already set.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 7 outlets. How we work →