"?News broke on Wednesday morning that Ilkay Gundogan had completed his long-awaited move from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City for a reported £21m, with the German midfielder hoping to spearhead Pep Guardiola's revolution at the Etihad.
.@Guendogan8 signs for City! #WelcomeIlkay #mcfc https://t.co/a5Nkykajbl
On first glance it seems like a masterstroke of a signing, given Gundogan's pedigree and experience in the game. He's still only 25 with his best years yet to come, one would assume.
The transfer appears an even bigger coup when comparing the fee with what Arsenal had to lay out to sign Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (reported £35m), who is a very similar player to his German counterpart, but with significantly less experience in challenging for honours at the very top of the game.
Gundogan will probably be the only player in the squad who has played in (and scored in) a major European final before.
However, for all the promise and talent Gundogan has shown in his career so far, the former Nuremberg midfielder is injury-prone, and has really struggled for fitness in recent seasons.
He's currently ruled out for a number of months after dislocating his knee cap, and missed out on Germany's 23-man squad for the European Championships in France as a result. He's expected to miss City's entire pre-season schedule and likely the start of the new season. It's not a great way to settle in and hit the ground running at your new club.
Unfortunately for Pep, City have a few of those types already.
Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero, City's key men in defence and attack, are also both extremely prone to spending large parts of the season on the treatment table. Throw in a lightweight Gundogan in the middle of the park, who is going to have to get used to the rigours and physicality of the Premier League, and Pep may well have a shaky spine of a team that could collapse quite easily.
The likes of Fabian Delph and David Silva are also well known to pick up niggling injuries throughout the season.
Even more worryingly, City have been constantly linked with another major signing who is currently set for a long spell out on the sidelines - Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte. The Frenchman has no recurring injury problems to speak of, but he did break his leg recently and who knows how well he will recover.
Pep's medical team will be key to his first season in charge in the Premier League. Without Kompany at the back, City look lost. Without Aguero firing up front, City look impotent. And if Gundogan does, as expected, replace Yaya Toure in midfield, then the spine of the team needs much better medical care than they have received in recent seasons.
Guardiola may well look to address these issues in the transfer market as well on the training pitch, but it is certainly a gamble City fans will be hoping pays off.
Pep is bringing fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura with him from Bayern Munich to Manchester, along with other key staff that have followed him since his Barcelona days.
Buenaventura comes with a reputation of being an expert in player rehabilitation, as well as conditioning the players to Pep's playing style, which will require incredible stamina and pace for his high-pressing game. Hopefully, he will able to work his magic on Kompany, Aguero, new boy Gundogan and the rest of the Manchester City side. If he fails, there could be trouble.