There were personnel reshuffles for both our men’s and women’s teams in the summer as Pep Guardiola and Gareth Taylor reshaped their squads for the 2022/23 season.
And there were also debuts for a number of academy stars who have progressed through our youth ranks.
But who made their City bows in the past 12 months?
Find out below!
West Ham United 0-2 City
The beginning of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign signalled a trio of debutants as we made the perfect start to the season.
Erling Haaland made his eagerly anticipated bow from the start and made his presence felt by netting both goals en route to victory.
Signing from Leeds United, Kalvin Phillips, and arriving from River Plate, Julian Alvarez, both came from the bench and impressed as we came away from the London Stadium with three points.
The Norwegian first scored from the spot in the first half, before completing his brace when calmly slamming home 20 minutes after the interval.
City 4-0 AFC Bournemouth
The four goals, clean sheet and impressive performance against the Cherries wasn’t the only reason to be buoyed following the victory.
Pep Guardiola handed Academy ace Rico Lewis his first team bow against Scott Parker’s side from the bench.
Since then, the dynamic full-back has gone from strength to strength – making seven appearances and scoring on his UEFA Champions League debut in our 3-1 victory over Sevilla.
City 4-2 Crystal Palace
When Crystal Palace raced into a 2-0 lead at the Etihad Stadium it looked as though the Eagles were going to continue their impressive record away to City.
Then up-stepped Haaland.
The Norwegian bagged a second half hat-trick after Bernardo Silva had pulled a goal back shortly after the break to hand us a 4-2 advantage.
With City looking to close-out victory, Guardiola handed Sergio Gomez his debut following his summer switch from Anderlecht.
The left-back delivered an assured performance as we maintained our unbeaten start to the league season.
Sevilla 0-4 City
Manuel Akanji followed former Bourssia Dortmund teammate Haaland to the Etihad Stadium and showed why he was selected by Guardiola to bolster our defence following his debut against Sevilla.
The versatile centre-back was calm and composed on the ball at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium and read the play expertly.
Across his 15 appearances in sky blue, he looks as though he’s been a member of the squad for a number of years due to his seamless transition into our backline.
Dortmund 0-0 City
With Champions League knockout stage qualification already sealed before our trip to Signal Iduna Park, Guardiola opted to slightly rotate his side for our final group game.
This saw Stefan Ortega Moreno start between the sticks, before producing a brilliant display en route to a clean sheet as we finished unbeaten in Group G.
Chelsea Women 1-0 City
After signing from Rosenborg in late January, Julie Blakstad unfortunately tasted defeat on her City debut against eventual WSL champions, Chelsea.
In the narrow loss to Emma Hayes’ side where Guru Reiten’s 14th minute strike handed the hosts three points.
Since then, the speedy winger has scored six goals in 22 matches for Gareth Taylor’s side.
City 6-0 Tomiris Turan
A swathe of Taylor’s summer 2022 recruits made their debuts in our UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier against Tomiris Turan.
A total of seven new faces arrived at the Academy Stadium in the preseason as City reshaped our playing personnel.
And four of those made their bows in sky blue in European competition.
Deyna Castellanos, Leila Ouahabi, Kerstin Kasparij and Laia Aleixandri all featured for the first time for City in the commanding victory over the Kazakhstan side.
Goals from Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Vicky Losada and an Aytaj Sharifova own goal came alongside a debut strike by Castellanos from the penalty spot.
City 0-1 Real Madrid
Teenage ace Mary Fowler was signed from Montpellier in June, and the attacker started her first match as we suffered Champions League heartbreak against Real Madrid.
We missed out on a place in group stages of the UWCL as Caroline Weir came back to haunt City by scoring the only goal of the game.
For the Australia international, it represented her first appearance in sky blue and she’s since made 10 appearances for the Club.
City 4-0 Leicester Women
Our resounding victory over the Foxes represented our first of 2022/23, and there were more reasons than one to celebrate.
Signing from West Ham United, Yui Hesgawa, not only made her debut – but capped off a fine display with a goal on her maiden appearance.
The Japan international was joined on the scoresheet by Khadija Shaw (two) and Lauren Hemp.
Since the success over Leicester we have remained unbeaten in the following nine games until the winter break.
City 6-0 Blackburn Rovers Women
City started our defence of the Continental Cup in perfect fashion against Blackburn by hitting Rovers for six at the Academy Stadium.
And the memorable evening was rounded off with a number of first team debuts, with Sandy MacIver, Annie Hutchings, Gracie Prior, Lois Marley-Paraskevas and Emma Siddall all handed their bows by Taylor.
It was great viewing for the Club has our Academy graduates entered the Academy Stadium field for the first time in senior competition.
Goals from Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler (brace), Vicky Losada and Julie Blakstad (brace) saw us record an impressive success.
