For Manchester City At What Point Does Ambition Trump Sentiment?

Manchester City supporters myself included tend to be a sentimental bunch. As a club which has enjoyed little success relatively speaking through the years, we cherish our heroes. Some of our heroes like Shaun Goater, Paul Dickov, Paul Lake, Steve Lomas and Keith Curle among others weren't world-beaters by any stretch of the imagination - but they were loyal club servants that did great things in a tough period in the Blues history.

That's why winning was always going to be complicated. Being sentimental doesn't correspond with the ruthless nature of modern football at top clubs where players are shuttled in and out of sides without much regard.

Having won two titles and four major trophies with the same core of players, the Blues were always going to hit a point where the squad was going to need to be refreshed, perhaps ruthlessly. Following last week's announcement that Pep Guardiola will be joining the club the summer and the 3-1 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City on Saturday, this seems the time to have the conversation about the coming changes.

The sentiment for players like David Silva, Yaya Toure, Aleksander Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta is laudable by MCFC supporters. Part of the reason the Blues have not developed the reputation for unforgiving ambition like Chelsea and Real Madrid is that Manchester City have essentially kept the same core of players now for over five seasons despite obvious overspending on peripheral players.  Fans of other clubs often tell me they respect that the Blues have tried to maintain a consistency and club ethos even while spending lots of cash.

However, this summer might be where sentiment is thrown out the window and Manchester City becomes as ruthless as everyone else in world football. Is it something Blues supporters are prepared for?