Roman eventually signed onto FFP. Only City and I believe Wigan rejected it. Of course now it's too big a problem for some of the clubs that really supported it like Milan and they want to change it.
On a more positive note, let's speculate about Pep's deployment of City's players.
I'm going to assume that he'll revert to 4-3-3. City have neither Ribery nor Robben out wide and Aguero is the star player things will be built around.
If you look at the way Barca deployed their 4-3-3 with a single pivot (Busquets) shielding a high defensive line with Xavi and Iniesta ahead of him you start to see some of the challenges City will have adopting this formation.
There's no natural #4 at the club. Fernando shields but the ball is a hot potato to him. Fernandinho and Delph are more box to box types than true #4s. Yaya played this position once but either can't or won't expend the energy this position requires. City have been linked to Weigl from Dortmund who would play this role. Evans is a young midfielder who you might have wondered about but he's been sold. If i had to guess, assuming City do not buy at this position, I'd expect Fernandinho to take this role as he's the closest approximation to Busquets although they're extremely different players and the comparison isn't particularly well made.
I think it's a no brainer that David Silva will be a CM under Pep. Silva drifts a lot, probably too much, in City's current setup and would have to show a lot more discipline under Pep. I find it hard to say whether he's more Xavi or Iniesta, he's sort of the middle of both, but Pep has shown a willingness to give up some steel in midfield for creativity and possession and Silva will offer both. In a few recent matches Pellegrini has taken off 2 CMs and forced Silva into a deeper role and he's looked good in the position. Silva is honestly lousy in front of goal anyway, he's almost better deployed in a slightly deeper role picking passes and dictating play. I think he will flourish under Pep even as he ages.
The question then centers around De Bruyne and whether he will also fall back into CM. Unlike Silva, De Bruyne is incredibly talented as a goal scorer in his own right. But some of his best attributes are his willingness to play an incisive early ball or cross that cuts up the defense. If you try to play a Silva, Fernandinho, De Bruyne midfield you had better have vintage Barca possession stats because that midfield is really going to struggle to get stuck in. But then again, a Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets midfield should have been constantly overrun but somehow never was, so maybe he'll do it. But in my heart of hearts, I think De Bruyne moves to an outside winger and a new CM is brought in. If a #4 arrives, maybe Fernandinho plays as a shuttle CM to provide a bit more defensive solidarity and balance. If not, I think a CM who fits the system is brought in in spite of City having a minor glut of CMS today. (Thiago will obviously be linked although I don't see it happening, at least immediately)
Up front, I think Sterling, Aguero, De Bruyne becomes the attacking trio unless something crazy like Neymar happens. Ultimately, I think Liverpool fans were more right than wrong about Raheem and as I said earlier I wonder whether he'll be able to adapt to Pep's style. His first touch is honestly lousy and his second touch is often the same. He's woefully one footed. If ever there were a better marriage of manager to player who really needs a manager it is this one, as pretty much everything Sterling lacks is something Pep requires. Raheem puts more than a fair shift in and can look dangerous if given enough space but he quite frankly has to improve his ball skills significantly to stick under Pep. Nonetheless, City paid a small fortune for him and he's English, so I think he gets a go. If Raheem needed this manager more than almost anyone Aguero is maybe 2nd. He's such an underrated star, Pep will probably get him seriously into the Ballon D'Or conversation if he can stay healthy. If I'm being honest, Sergio can be a bit loose in possession as well sometimes but the benefits so far outweigh any negatives that I'm certain Pep will make it work. KDB isn't a traditional speedy winger but he's got such a deadly eye for a pass and is great with both feet and I think Pep will want him using those skills near the goal.
The back 4 will probably be where most of the activity ends up happening. I don't think either fullback who will be first choice is on the team today. Kolarov is woeful with the ball and in my opinion can't play the way Pep requires. Zabaleta maybe can but there seems to be a lot of noise about him moving on (unfortunately) and he's getting on the older side. The youth LB, Angelino, seems tailor made for Guardiola but may be too young. Clichy can probably play in this system but won't be a regular. I think City buys at both FB positions or tries to patch it together with Zabaleta and Angelino. At CB so much depends on the health of Kompany. I think a Stones or Laporte will be bought and some combination of those 2 with Otamendi will be the regular rotation.
On the bench, it's really juicy to think of Nasri as having a resurrection under Pep. He's got all the right attributes as an amazing possession player who can pick a pass himself but it'd take a tremendous attitude change on Samir's part for that to work. Maybe he gets invigorated under Pep and can play as a CM in this type of system but at best he's a wild card for next season. I think he'd be a tremendous CM if he had the desire to really do it but the jury is really out on that front. Navas is a very useful player with little end product. He does seem to understand well how to move for the team and is willing to accept a bench role at times so I suspect he'll be kept around to offer a change in the wide areas. Delph probably stays because he's tremendous value for his transfer fee as CM depth but I think he's going to find it hard to find match time under Pep. He works incredibly hard, though, so he might be the kind of player needed to make a high pressing system work. I think Bony and Mangala are each sold for depressingly low fees compared to what they were bought for as only Chelsea seem capable of flogging off unwanted players for big money.
This is of course idle speculation and of course relatively little of it will be correct as I think there will be a lot of transfer activity at City. Just sort of one man's guessing game as to how I think Pep might deploy most of the current roster and where the major gaps lie. The biggest change will be philosophical. While City already often wins the possession battle, the current crop of players have shown little positional discipline or willingness to press from the front. They'll occasionally give it a 10 minute whirl but many of the existing stars at City are going to be pushed to do far more work in pressing than they've ever done. This is scary with older and/or injury prone players like Silva and Aguero, but the change at City will require many of the same parts to take up different roles and different responsibilities.
