English Premier League

Manchester City's summer exodus begins: Navas, Caballero, Clichy all leave

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sports Illustrated, SI.com Staff/Sports Illustrated via Planet Futbol

For a second straight summer, Manchester City is undergoing major changes to its roster, and the latest exodus was ramped up on Thursday.

Manchester City confirmed that Gael Clichy, Willy Caballero and Jesus Navas are all leaving the club upon the expiration of their contracts next month, joining Pablo Zabaleta in departing the Etihad for new ventures.

The trio got a far less ceremonial departure from the club than Zabaleta, a beloved figure in Manchester, who was honored on the field after the last home match of the season.

Pep Guardiola took the helm last summer and made a number of changes, loaning out Joe Hart, Elaquim Mangala, Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony and Jason Denayer and releasing Martin Demichelis. The makeover continues for the club, which qualified for next season's Champions League with a third-place finish in the Premier League but had some obvious shortcomings, notably in the back. 

That much was confirmed by Guardiola and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who gutted the club's defensive depth by off-loading Clichy and Zabaleta and moved on from Caballero, who, at times, was Guardiola's preferred No. 1 over summer-signing Claudio Bravo.

The club already figured to be in the market for another goalkeeper after Bravo's struggles, and that will certainly be the case with Caballero's deal not renewed.

Following a year in which City acquired the likes of Gabriel Jesus, John Stones, Leroy Sane, Nolito, Bravo and Ilkay Gundogan, more buys are in the offing as Guardiola aims to rebound from the first trophy-less season of his career as a manager.

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