I’m impressed already by Hugo Viana’s transfer record - it could be a blessing for Man City

How do you follow on from the best in the business? It’s a question Manchester City are used to asking themselves.

Pep Guardiola managed to find an answer when David Silva and Sergio Aguero left, while he may already be hatching a plan to move on from Kevin De Bruyne this summer. That is, if he sticks around, of course. If not, then City will have to try an reinvent themselves again without one of the game’s preeminent figures.

For now, all eyes are on the situation surrounding the director of football, with Txiki Begiristain’s departure at the end of the season already confirmed and Hugo Viana set to replace him. The former Newcastle United midfielder won’t begin his full-time role until next summer but, as per City’s statement over the weekend, ‘will collaborate with Txiki in the preceding months to ensure a smooth transition’.

It’s a complex role, and there’s plenty Viana will need to digest before he can get anywhere near the levels of his predecessor, a man widely considered to be among the best sporting directors in world football.

One of Viana’s chief responsibilities will be transfers - and perhaps the easiest to judge externally. It’s an area where the Portuguese has already shown some clout at Sporting Lisbon. 

During six years as the club’s sporting director, he unearthed several gems. The most high-profile may be Viktor Gyokeres, the man who in recent days has been billed as Erling Haaland’s long-term replacement by certain outlets.

His signing from Coventry City in 2023, for less than £20m, was a remarkable bit of business, especially given he is now being linked with transfer moves worth four times that value. A record of 55 goals in 61 appearances explains why.

There have been others, such as the purchase of 19-year-old defender Ousmane Diomande form Midtjylland, who is now seen as one of the world’s top young centre-back as is reportedly attracting interest from Arsenal and Manchester United. Meanwhile, cherry picking Marcus Edwards from Vitoria de Guimaraes, Manuel Ugarte from Famalicao and Morten Hjulmand from Leece shows a wealth of knowledge that few can rival across Europe.

He has also experience dealing with the continent’s top clubs - a skillset that will be vital at City - and Sporting’s incomings have included players from Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and even City during Viana’s time.

The latter transaction saw Pedro Porro sign in 2020 - another win for the incoming City chief. He signed for around £7m and departed three years later for just under £40m.

Dealing with major departures has been a common theme during Viana’s time at Sporting. In his first season alone, the club saw Gelson Martins, Rafael Leao, William Carvalho, Rui Patricio, Cristiano Piccini, Daniel Podence and Merih Demira depart.

More would follow, with Bruno Fernandes, Raphinha, Nuno Menes, Joao Palhinha, Ugarte and Porro among the more high-profile exits over the subsequent years. It’s a problem he won’t have to deal with at City, who unlike Sporting, are at the very top of the transfer food chain. But replacing outgoing stars could be a defining remit of Viana’s first few years at the Etihad.

Kyle Walker (34), Ikay Gundogan (33), Kevin De Bruyne (33), Ederson (31), John Stones (30) and Bernardo Silva (30) have formed the basis of Guardiola’s unprecedented era at City but will move on over the coming seasons. Finding suitable substitutes will be a challenge no matter how much backing he’s given in the market.

In that area, Viana still needs to prove himself. Indeed, the £20m outlay on Ugarte remains the most expensive incoming transfer of the 41-year-old’s reign and he’s only spent more than £15m on four occasions, on Ugarte, Gyokeres Hjulmand and Conrad Harder.

Not that it should necessarily be viewed as a negative. City have proved reluctant to spend obscene figures on transfers in recent years - but it seems inevitable that Viana at some point will oversee a few exorbitant arrivals. That’s a different type of pressure.

But the early signs indicate Viana is aligned with City’s view on transfers, in particular their penchant for buying young. It’s notable that Sporting’s last summer window before Viana took charge included moves for Emiliano Vivano (32) and Nani (31) and saw 10 arrivals, only one of whom was aged under 25.

By the final summer of Viana’s reign, four incomings with an average age of 22 feels more in keeping with City’s modus operandi. A general theme during the former midfielder’s six years at Sporting is that the club’s signings became gradually younger.

In addition to his knowledge of European leagues, Viana also demonstrated a capacity to poach players from Portugal’s smaller clubs. Famalicao, Portimonense, Rio Ave, Guimaraes, Braga, Santa Clara and Estoril Praia all provided players to Sporting between 2020 and 2023. It’s a tactic City have deployed in the past, with the Premier League champions signing players from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Aston Villa in recent years.

The signs are definitely positive for Viana, who will be helped by City’s vast array of elite-level executives. But transferring those skills from a plucky underdog punching upwards, to one of Europe’s top sides will be an undoubted challenge, no matter how impressive his transfer record has been so far.