Man City have not addressed squad depth - but that wasn't really the issue

City's squad is currently smaller than it was last season, but they might have addressed a more pressing issue.

When the clock strikes 11pm on 1 September and the transfer window closes, Manchester City will be pretty happy with their summer business.

This has been the busiest transfer window at the club since 2017, with a major squad shake-up after four Premier League title triumphs in five years for Pep Guardiola's side.

Five first-team squad members have left the club: Fernandinho left after his contract expired, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined Arsenal for £45m and £30m respectively, Raheem Sterling left for Chelsea and Zack Steffen joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan.

Other sales - including that of Ferran Torres in January - mean that City have so far raised over £230m in player sales in 2022. That allowed them to sign Erling Haaland for £51m, Julian Alvarez for around £14m and Kalvin Phillips for £42m.

The main gripe that supporters, and indeed some at the club might have, is that City did not manage to sign Marc Cucurella from Brighton. The left-back that Guardiola really wanted has joined Chelsea in a deal worth more than £60m, as City's final offer of £40m was rejected.

City will now begin the season with just two senior full-backs, Kyle Walker on the right and Joao Cancelo on the left. They are actively looking to bring in another left-back, but that could take time.

Many will feel that City should have sounded out Brighton over Cucurella earlier on in the summer and drawn up a contingency plan for this very situation, but it is what it is. The other issue that the saga has thrown up is that City's squad is currently smaller than it was last season.

Guardiola had 21 senior players at his disposal last term, a number that felt inadequate towards the end of the season when injuries began to mount. City noticeably struggled in games such as the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool when they had to rest key players. Now they have 20 players, but was squad depth really the issue?

Guardiola had the resources to rest the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden at times last season; it's just that the replacements did not always deliver when asked to.

In games when Guardiola decided to ring the changes, three players that tended to come into the starting line-up were Fernandinho, Sterling and Jesus. All are exceptional footballers, although the former is past being able to play at the very highest level.

Sterling showed his quality in November and December, while Jesus upped his game towards the end of the campaign with incredible performances against Real Madrid and Watford.

However, they were not reliable. Too often did Fernandinho look overwhelmed when deputising for Rodri, while Sterling and Jesus frustrated supporters with their wasteful finishing in-front of goal.

One example was Jesus' missed one-on-one opportunity against Liverpool at Wembley. At 1-3 down with 20 minutes to go, he could have got City back in the game, but he didn't.

While City's summer business so far actually represents a net-loss in terms of numbers, the quality - and reliability - has increased. Phillips is much more capable of covering for Rodri than Fernandinho was, while Alvarez and Haaland will provide a ruthlessness in attack that Sterling and Jesus just did not have. In goal, Stefan Ortega should prove a more dependable deputy for Ederson than Zack Steffen was.

Of course, should City incur another injury crisis then depth may well become an issue. But contrary to popular belief, the issue last season was quality, not depth. In that regard, City's summer business could not have gone much better.