Manchester City Fan View: Sane, Jesus and Sterling echo Barcelona's MSN

With the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the helm, Manchester City supporters have been appropriately instructed that the Spanish coach is planning for the future. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has drawn up the blueprint and is now laying the foundations for future success.

With future success comes the need to establish a core group of players – and a consistent front line is part of that. The Blues have an abundance of attacking talent – but players like Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Nolito and co won’t be around for too much more longer.

City have experimented with several forwards since their big money takeover back in 2008 – Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Jesus Navas, Scott Sinclair. The list is endless.

On Saturday against Crystal Palace, Guardiola opted for a front three of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and new kid on the block Gabriel Jesus.

It would be unreasonable to compare the young trio to the likes of Guardiola’s previous frontlines – David Villa, Pedro, Lionel Messi or Franck Ribery, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben. However, City’s young stars certainly have the potential to form a tantalising trio and perform at the highest level of the highest level. Aged just 19, 21 and 22 respectively, Jesus, Sane and Sterling certainly have the capacity to become a lethal frontline.

All three are blessed with pace, trickery and technicality beyond their years, something which will enable them to torment opposition defences for seasons to come. The interplay exhibited at Selhurst Park at the weekend was not quite at the level of the so called MSN of Messi, Suarez and Neymar at the Nou Camp, yet there were glimpses of a bright future.

Sterling and Sane may have scored the first two goals in the FA Cup tie against Palace, although it was Jesus who caught the eye. The £27 million man from Palmeiras spun away from three defenders on the half way line before playing a perfectly placed pass through to Sterling, who could not miss. And it was Sane who scored the second, making a well-timed run into the box before finishing calmly across the goal.

A look to Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp reveals the benefits of a technically gifted, fluid front three – Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Phillipe Coutinho and Adam Lallana have been utilised in a variety of combinations as a trio. It is no surprise that Liverpool are the current top goal scorers in the Premier League with 52 goals in 23 games.

Yet Klopp has had to tinker with his squad and alter the players available at his disposal. Mario Balotelli, Christian Benteke, Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini and Iago Aspas were all deemed surplus to requirements – most probably because they themselves failed to hold the requirements necessary to Klopp’s system. So vital is the obligation for high energy, peak fitness, intelligent movement and flowing interplay that Daniel Sturridge could well be the next high profile casualty of the new regime at Anfield.

Guardiola could perhaps adopt a similar approach, both tactically and dogmatically. In terms of tactics, an ever-(inter)changing attacking prong could potentially be a nightmare to defend against, with all three making intelligent runs and engaging in effective linkup play.

Meanwhile, in terms of logistics, a mass summer exodus is apparently imminent, and it appears that several long serving stars, such as Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Joe Hart and Samir Nasri – could very well be some of the ones at the end of the axe. Even 20-year-old Kelechi Iheanacho, the breakthrough star of last season for City, could see the exit door in order to accommodate Jesus.

However, their expense will not be in vain; City fans must realise that, if they ultimately want top young talents to be utilised, some of their favourite players will inevitably be the ones replaced.

In the past, stars like Denis Suarez, Marcos Lopes and John Guidetti were all touted with long reigning careers at the Etihad Stadium, yet failed to live up to expectations. Perhaps that was down to a lack of experience.

But Guardiola, a coach famed on promoting young players, will do anything and everything in his power to develop a framework which will stand the test of time, even after he has departed.