Manchester City's capture of Ukrainian youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko is another clear sign that the club are building not just for the season ahead under Pep Guardiola, but for long after the Catalan has left.
Guardiola got to work at the City Football Academy on Monday after being unveiled to supporters over the weekend, and within hours of his arrival at the training complex his new employers announced the arrival of Zinchenko.
The 19-year-old, who featured in all three of Ukraine's matches at Euro 2016 having only made his senior debut in October, had attracted interest from a number of clubs around Europe, with his agent saying as recently as April that Borussia Dortmund were most likely to snap him up.
Indeed, it seems Zinchenko has been fast-tracked to the big-time because City felt they could not afford to let him go elsewhere.
As a result, he is likely to spend next season away from the Etihad Stadium. Despite the club boasting top-quality training facilities, and now the added opportunity to work with Guardiola, City have been looking for a suitable club where Zinchenko can hone his talents over the next year.
Pep: Messi has to stay at Barca
The youngster will provide City with pace on the wing, but he is less of a direct dribbler than De Bruyne. In fact, it is his delivery from wide areas - and set-pieces - as well as his eye for a pass that have marked him out as one of the most promising talents to emerge from Eastern Europe in recent years. Should he complete his loan move to PSV, he will offer Phillip Cocu's men, who will be in the Champions League next season, a threat from the left-hand side, but could also play from the right, or potentially behind the striker.
That versatility, as well as his attacking ability, will no doubt prove useful to City in the coming years. Guardiola has proven his adeptness at bringing through young talents during his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but admitted on Monday that he is no magician when it comes to youngsters.
"It depends on the quality of the [young] players," he said. "You cannot create something. I’m a good trainer but not good enough to convince the players who don’t have the quality that they can play at that level."
Guardiola officially started work on Monday but he has been preparing for his arrival ever since clinching the German Cup with Bayern Munich at the end of May, so much so that City CEO Ferran Soriano insisted his former colleague at Barcelona take a vacation.
The Catalan has been poring over videos of his new players, as well as prospective signings, and it will have been decided that Zinchenko has sufficient quality to thrive under the storied coach. So too Lorenzo Gonzalez, the lightening-quick 16-year-old Swiss striker who joined City over the weekend. Like Zinchenko, Gonzalez had attracted interest from a host of top clubs, but City were not to be outdone.
They have done their groundwork this summer, whether in signing hot prospects or ready made first-teamers. Back on June 2 they announced Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan as the first signing of the Guardiola era, and last weekend he was joined by Spain forward Nolito.
Both men have been identified as fitting the Guardiola blueprint and both are expected to make an immediate contribution (or at least when Gundogan returns from his knee injury).
More will follow in the coming weeks, perhaps even days. City outlined a number of targets in the early part of this year, and while some have evaded them - such as Athletic defender Aymeric Laporte - their hard work and organisation appears to be paying off.
"I think we have done the work with much anticipation," Soriano told the BBC this weekend. "Two of the deals are closed, the other deals are fairly advanced. The only thing that the Euros creates is that some players don’t want to announce anything before they’re finished, but I think we knew what we wanted to do, we’re maybe half way and we will finish very soon."
Leroy Sane, the Schalke winger, is one of those players involved at the European Championship who is expected to sign for City when the tournament is over. John Stones' involvement with England also held up talks, but the Blues are ready to pay £50 million to sign him. Toni Kroos is also still thought to be a target, despite City sources distancing themselves from a deal as recently as one month ago.
Talks are also thought to be ongoing for Torino right-back Bruno Peres and Real Sociedad keeper Geronimo Rulli as City look to offset their big spending with moves for quality, relatively low-cost reinforcements, such as Nolito.
These things never run smoothly but City are confident they are at least half way there. Just four days into the transfer window the club have already signed two first-teamers and two youngsters who can contribute in the future. With Soriano confident that more will put pen to paper sooner rather than later, things are looking up as the Guardiola era kicks into gear. - Goal