Has City's season fallen below expectations?

Manager Pep Guardiola has endured a difficult start to English football, but there are tantalising glimpses of what the future may hold

Pep Guardiola arrival at Manchester City last summer was greeted with much enthusiasm and huge expectations. His personality was enough to have made pundits slashed their odds at football at 10bet as City were considered one of the strong favourites to win the Premier League.

Guardiola reputation preceded him, and an initial run of 10 straight wins in all competitions had set every expectation right. The Blues looked like they have grasped their new manager’s tactics but it proved to be something of a false dawn, as results and performances slipped.

With just two months of the season remaining, it has been a mixed debut season in English football for Guardiola.. The Blues qualified from their Champions League group with relative ease, but were knocked out by a dynamic, youthful Monaco side in the second round. Meanwhile, the Blues are third in the Premier League, twelve points behind leaders Chelsea.

Though they are still in the FA Cup, City's hierarchy may well see this as a season of underachievement and an overhaul of the squad is expected this summer.

Seven senior players, including the likes of Yaya Toure, Pablo Zabalea and Gael Clichy are out of contract at the end of the season, whilst on-loan players such as Joe Hart, Samir Nasri and Wilfried Bony are unlikely to return to Manchester.

City are likely to back Guardiola heavily in the transfer market, and the club have been linked with a number of top class international players.

It has been a steep learning curve for City's new manager, but he appears to be relishing the challenge and you would not bet against him enjoying a successful season in 2017/18.