Following one of the greatest managers of his generation was always going to be difficult for Enzo Maresca, without losing some of the club's best players in the process.
Mass exodus at City
World Cup-winning captain Rodri has been unveiled as a new Barcelona player, and he follows Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and James Trafford out of the Etihad Stadium exit door.
Elliot Anderson has been the only major incoming transfer to date, and though others have been rumoured, they're yet to be secured.
Newcastle are now looking to put the cat further amongst the pigeons by making a move for combative City midfielder Nico Gonzalez.
The 24-year-old hasn't really got too much of a look in at City, predominantly because Rodri was always going to be first choice in the defensive midfield position, and only if he were injured or Guardiola wanted to rotate would the younger Spaniard be handed a start.
Does Maresca not fancy Nico?
With Rodri having moved on now, it seems an odd decision from City that they would even consider an approach from another club, unless, of course, Maresca just doesn't fancy Gonzalez in the position and has an ace up his sleeve in terms of a new face arriving at the club.
Further, if the club can recoup anywhere close to the €60m/£51m that they paid for the player, then that's money that can be used to help pay for a new signing.
It's clear that the Magpies need to shore up their midfield after having lost Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes to Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal respectively, and with Gonzalez still some years away from reaching his peak, a good run in the Newcastle first-team could see him finally realise his potential.
During his time at City, he racked up 57 appearances, though started in only 39 of those matches.
Gonzalez would bring bite to Newcastle's midfield
With 13 yellow cards to date, Gonzalez certainly can't be accused of shirking a challenge, and with his tackling success rate as high as 71.43%, he would give the Magpies some bite in midfield.
Though 80 clearances and 45 interceptions made don't necessarily make for good reading, one has to factor in time spent on the pitch, and to cut the player some slack given that it takes time to get into the rhythm of a game and he can't necessarily be expected to be 'on it' from the get-go.
His combative and physical nature can be seen most readily with his one-on-one duel success, as he won 209 of the 393 that he's contested to this point in a City shirt.
To complement that output, he's also won 72 of his 122 aerial duels, an area in which both Guimaraes and Tonali were lacking somewhat.
Superb passing range
In terms of his passing range, as might be expected from a City player who was schooled at Barcelona, a worst completion rate of 85.29% is something to be proud of, as is his top mark in this area of 94.57%, which came in the 2025/26 Champions League when he completed 366 of his 387 passes.
Goals were never a huge part of his game (just four scored whilst at City). However, Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle might want Gonzalez to contribute more in this area, given that both Tonali and Guimaraes were reasonably adept at finding the net.
Were he given licence to roam a little further forward at St. James' Park, there's every reason to believe that he'd add more to the goals for column, and simply by having the confidence that playing each week brings, should elevate his game to an even higher level.
It isn't clear at this stage how far forward negotiations are, though reports would point to the move completing successfully at some point in the near future.
Maresca deserves time to build his own City empire
Whether the sale would be a decision that City come to regret will only be known in due course, and for now, supporters need to understand the situation which Maresca has stepped into and give him their trust accordingly.
The worst thing the City faithful can do is not give the Italian the time he needs to build his own empire, so affording him that courtesy shouldn't even be in question.
If he hasn't lived up to expectations from the club - not the lofty expectations supporters are likely to set - in 18 months or so, then they'll have a decision to make, but not before.
For Nico Gonzalez, any transfer decision will come a whole lot quicker than that.