When Riyad Mahrez left Manchester City last month to see out his career in the Saudi Pro League, the reaction was mostly of indifference. Unlike with Ilkay Gundogan, there had been no great clamour for the Algerian to stay at the Etihad Stadium, and given he is 32 and had barely featured in the team's run to the treble (in contrast to Gundogan), many fans were happy for the club to take the £30 million ($38m) transfer fee from Al Ahli and run.
Mahrez was often seen as at best a useful squad player, and at worst a selfish and frustrating player who had missed penalties at crucial moments. But over the course of five seasons, he had made an invaluable contribution, scoring 78 goals and making 59 assists in only 236 appearances, many of them off the bench.
While the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Gundogan may have been the stars of City's historic season, their impressive squad depth was equally important in them winning every trophy that mattered, and their squad is significantly weaker without Mahrez.
Pep Guardiola will be more than aware of that, but so far he is yet to sign a replacement for the Algerian, instead prioritising the arrival of centre-back Josko Gvardiol and midfielder Mateo Kovacic, while also making a bid for West Ham playmaker Lucas Paqueta.
And in the Community Shield against Arsenal, he could see the limits of playing Bernardo Silva on the right wing, as the Portuguese was calmly dealt with by Gunners' full-back Jurrien Timber. In the end, it took a natural wide forward in Cole Palmer to come off the bench and score the breakthrough goal.
If City want to stand a chance of repeating last season's epic achievements they will need to find a successor to Mahrez, an incisive player who can make the difference against stubborn opponents. But who should they choose? GOAL runs through the options available to Guardiola: