Manchester United are used to seeing players leave and flourish elsewhere. It's less common to see a former Manchester City player do that.
City's summer transfer window in 2022 will go down as one of their best given it saw Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez arrive. Another forgotten signing was Sergio Gomez, bought on the cheap from Anderlecht to cover left-back despite most of his career coming on the wings.
It's fair to say Gomez never really cut the grade at City - yet his effort for the club he supported from childhood could never be questioned and there will be plenty of smiles at the Etihad over his progress at Real Sociedad.
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After signing and declaring his love for City, Gomez started well at the Etihad and notched an assist in the 6-3 derby demolition of United that season. "An unbeatable first derby. Manchester is blue!" he posted after that game.
Gomez picked City from his Catalan home when his brother returned from a school trip to England with a City shirt that had 'Silva 21' on the back. After following David Silva's footsteps to City, he then took the same exit route to Sociedad.
The Spaniard won the treble with City in his first season but started just ten times that season. In his lowest point, his calamitous performance at Southampton in the League Cup in 2023 saw his half-time substitution cheered by City fans.
Still, he called training with Pep Guardiola a dream come true and genuinely looked like a fan who couldn't believe his luck at playing for his boyhood club. He may not have been good enough at left-back and lost further forward, but his effort and desire to make it work could never be questioned.
"I want to stay [at City]," he said that summer, while shining as a winger in Spain's run to the U21 Euro final. "I'm going to go there from the first day of pre-season with a lot of desire to show him that I can have more minutes and I'm going to try to make it as difficult as possible for him.
"The idea is to stay there. That's my wish."
But the second season didn't quite go to plan with fewer starts (four) and none coming in the Premier League. He was omitted from the FA Cup final all together against United and started more games for Spain in the Olympics at the end of the season than the campaign that has just ended.
An exit made sense for everyone and Sociedad saw what Guardiola couldn't. Explaining his change in mindset, Gomez admitted the second season of backwards progress told him what he needed to know.
"You are practically in the best club in the world, and although you know that it can be difficult to play, you see that you have possibilities, and you feel like trying,” Gómez told AS.
“But you want minutes and that’s why Real’s interest came at the right time. Then the Olympic Games also helped me gain confidence and the start with Real was also good, to the point that thanks to it they called me up to the national team.”
A gold medallist and then a full international, Gomez has already started more for Sociedad (26) than his two years at City. If he plays both legs vs United in the Europa League he will surpass his total appearances in Sky Blue in less than a full season for his new club.
Three goals and five assists from a more attacking brief sees Gomez return to his roots as a winger and creative player - something he will hope to showcase against United and next week when he returns to Manchester for the first time. Sociedad have beaten Barcelona and Ajax and drawn with Atletico Madrid this term with Gomez featuring often.
"Defending the badge of a club that I have always loved is priceless," Gomez said on his departure from City, accompanying a video with his assist vs United. "I will continue cheering from afar because this club is part of my heart!"
How he would love to show City what they are missing, while also making United's struggles worse, this week.
