Manchester City have come to the end of a decade when they became the best team in England - but face a reboot to remain there.
They started the 2010s by ending a 35-year wait for a trophy and closed it by claiming the most points, most Premier League titles and most domestic trophies of any English side.
Watch every Premier League game exclusively on DAZN (start your free trial)
“Congratulations for all the people working here,” City manager Pep Guardiola said on the final day of the decade. “They were fighting with huge elephants here in England - big, big clubs with the biggest history. For the past decade we were part of them. That is amazing.”
But Guardiola and the City chiefs know that if they are to maintain their position with those huge elephants, they need to keep up with the pack. That's why 2020 is shaping up to be the most important 12 months City will have since joining the elite.
Much of the squad that has been pivotal to the last 10 years of success has gone, are set to go or will be going in the near future. Replacing them will not be straightforward.
Top of Guardiola’s priorities in the summer will be a new centre-back after the club's failure to replace Vincent Kompany’s leadership and defensive astuteness. The Belgian was integral to City’s development during his 11 years at the club and City's hierarchy have already established that not succeeding him was an error.
And they can’t afford to make the same mistakes as other players come to the end of an unprecedented era at the Etihad.
David Silva will be the first to go. For many, the Spaniard has been the Premier League’s outstanding player of the decade and many City fans describe him as the finest to ever wear the sky blue shirt.
Silva has already revealed that he will be gone at the end of the season. Academy product Phil Foden has been identified as his long-term successor, so the Premier League champions need to decide in the latter half of this campaign whether to rubber-stamp that choice or if they need to bring in another new face.
That is not the only decision that needs to be made before the summer transfer window opens.
Fernandinho is also out of contract at the end of the season but remains a crucial figure in Guardiola's side. The Brazilian was important as a central midfielder and has now emerged as the City manager's most senior centre-back until Aymeric Laporte returns from a serious knee injury. Paris Saint-Germain have already shown an interest but, even if he stays with City, Fernandinho turns 35 in May and the club needs to plan for a long-term alternative.
However, the hardest long-term task of all is finding a replacement for Sergio Aguero. The Argentinian has been the most prolific striker in England for the past decade, scoring more goals than anyone as he became the top foreign goalscorer in Premier League history.
City are already scouting for potential successors with 18 months remaining on Aguero's contract, but finding someone with such reliability will be almost impossible.
But the club's old guard are not the only players that will need to be replaced. Leroy Sane looks certain to be on his way to Bayern Munich in the summer with the German winger also in the last 18 months of his contract.
And left-back continues to be a problem. Benjamin Mendy is still struggling to find his best form after two years wrecked by knee problems and Guardiola is not expected to go into a fourth season with the position remaining a problem area.
Adding that sort of quality to the squad won’t come cheaply with little money recuperated through transfer fees.
But it’s not only on the pitch that Man City need to make changes. Guardiola has lost assistants Domenec Torrent and Mikel Arteta from his dugout in the past two years without bringing in a new face. The City boss says he will wait until the summer before identifying a new coach and a fresh approach could be vital for a new title challenge.
However, the biggest target for City remains Guardiola himself. The Catalan is already in the final 18 months of his contract, although he has suggested that there is a possibility that he could remain longer.
The countdown to his exit leaves the club in a quandary. Mauricio Pochettino has been hinted at as a possible successor but the former Tottenham boss is sure to have good offers coming in over the next year.
And any top-of-the-range signings will want to know City’s long-term strategy and who they will spend the best parts of their careers playing for.
A long-term plan needs to come together in the next year.
"The big clubs here in England are always looking forward, we are going to try and analyse not just in terms of the squad but as a club how we can do better,” Guardiola added before the first game of 2020 against Everton. “Hopefully in the next decade this club can be here for more time.”
The next 12 months will go a long way to deciding how the decade shakes out.
