Manchester City are expected to continue to be strengthen their squad in the summer transfer window - but the changes at the club will not stop on the pitch.
Pep Guardiola's side had a disappointing 2024/25 campaign, finishing a distant third in the Premier League, going out of the Champions League in the first knockout stage, and losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace. They did win the Community Shield, but nobody except Guardiola counts that.
That led the club to start making changes to their side in the January transfer window with Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonazalez all expensively acquired. Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders is expected to join the club imminently.
Second Jurgen Klopp general set for Manchester City move in Pep Guardiola's backroom revamp
Guardiola is also keen to shake up his backroom staff, however, and it was confirmed last week that assistants Junma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez were not having their contracts renewed. Another assistant, Carlos Vicens, has also departed to become head coach of Braga.
It subsequently emerged that City had doubled their Pep quota, appointing former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders as the first new hire for Guardiola's new-look coaching staff.
After arriving at Anfield during Brendan Rodgers' spell in charge, Lijnders went on to be one of Jurgen Klopp's most trusted right-hand men. The Dutchman left Liverpool alongside Klopp last summer to become Red Bull Salzburg manager, but was dismissed in December.
And now The Athletic report that City have poached another of Liverpool's long-serving technical staff in the shape of analyst James French.
French has been at Liverpool since 2012, when he followed Rodgers from Swansea, and has worked as the club's opposition analyst under Rodgers, Klopp and Arne Slot.
City are now expected to hire French in a role 'focused on set-piece coaching and analysis'.
City's struggles, alongside those of Guardiola's former assistant Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, have led to the suggestion that the Catalan's style of play is showing signs of becoming outmoded and is in need of a revamp.
Guardiola evidently agrees, and is said to want new voices and new ideas in his ear after seeing his side go backwards last season.
Slot led Liverpool to win the Premier League title at a canter playing an altogether more quick and direct style of play than Guardiola and Arteta's more attritional, possession-heavy style.
Jose Enrique's PSG meanwhile romped to the Champions League trophy playing a similarly adaptable and rapid style to Liverpool, with their swift counter-attacks repeatedly tearing Inter apart in Saturday's 5-0 Champions League final victory.
In light of that, there is an obvious inference to be drawn from City turning to two key members of staff with exacting knowledge of Klopp's methods.
Guardiola's success to date has been built in large part on a willingness to adapt his methods in response to developments in football strategy - which is why he is ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now.
The football his City side play is built on very different principles to the Johan Cruyff-inspired tiki-taka style he became famous for at Barcelona, winning plenty of trophies and plaudits along the way.
Guardiola will now be hoping that he can learn from his assistant as much as he imparts on them, and that together they can come up with a successful synthesis of ideas to get City back to their best...even if the football looks a bit different.
