After an extremely profitable trip to Asia last summer, Manchester City will join many other Premier League teams by heading to the United States for their pre-season preparations.
Last summer’s tour bagged City around $20million (£15.5m) due to the eagerness of supporters in Japan and South Korea to see Pep Guardiola and his players in action. Roughly 23,000 fans turned up just to see the team train in Seoul, while thousands more watched on television.
But it was often too hot to train and the players struggled to sleep, so they will be hoping that the American trip will provide better physical and mental preparation for the season ahead. Here, The Athletic explains who City are going to face and which of their stellar names are expected to be involved.
Who are City playing on this tour?
City will play four matches in the States, kicking things off against Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at 7.30pm local time on Tuesday (12.30am in the early hours of Wednesday UK time). The squad then fly northwest to New York for a game against AC Milan at 6pm local time (11pm UK time) on Saturday, which will be held at Yankee Stadium.
After that, they face Barcelona at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium on Wednesday, July 30 at 7pm local time (midnight UK time on July 31).
They finish things off against Chelsea in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, August 3 at 5.30pm local time (10.30pm UK time). That takes place at the 102,000-seater Ohio Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University.
Ohio Stadium: big (Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
Which senior players will be in the U.S.?
City had the vast majority of their squad at either the European Championship or the Copa America but between the few players who missed those tournaments and those who departed early, there will be enough household names to keep people excited.
Erling Haaland is the headline attraction wherever he goes and fortunately for City, Norway never seem to qualify for the big tournaments, so he will be centre stage in the States. Jack Grealish, who had a difficult season and paid the price by being cut from Gareth Southgate’s England squad, will also be raring to go for City.
Haaland and Grealish have enjoyed a longer pre-season (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Ederson missed the Copa with a facial injury and, despite interest from Saudi Arabia, he will be in the squad. Kalvin Phillips is included despite City looking to move him on before the season starts. Stefan Ortega, who signed a new contract during the summer, will battle with Ederson for the No 1 spot. The eternal Scott Carson, 38, also travels.
Academy products Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis, as well as James McAtee, who has spent the past two seasons at Sheffield United, will be given a chance to nudge themselves up the pecking order for the new season.
Croatians Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol will join up with the squad in New York.
Will others join after that?
Not really. All the players who made it out of the group stages with their countries have been given extended time off. Even though they could have three weeks off and join up with the team in the U.S., they will be given extra time with their families.
That means that Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji (plus Joao Cancelo) will only be returning in the days before the Community Shield against Manchester United on August 10.
International finalists John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Rodri and Julian Alvarez will not feature on the tour either. Alvarez is going to represent his country again, with Argentina involved in the Paris Olympics.
Rodri and Phil Foden are two of the City stars resting after their Euro 2024 escapades (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
What about new signing Savinho?
Do you want the good news or the bad news?
The good news is that City’s new signing says he prefers to play on the right wing, which should provide a bit of balance to the City squad next season, with Grealish and Doku on the left already, and Foden and Bernardo more likely to be used centrally more often.
The bad news is that the Brazilian is not expected on the tour following his Copa America campaign, so fans will have to wait to get a glimpse of him.
(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Do you want more bad news? It appears unlikely that City will bring in any more new faces unless players leave. Even those who are attracting interest, such as Ederson and Alvarez, are considered too expensive by their suitors.
Nunes moving to Saudi Arabia could open up a slot in midfield but it is all quiet on that front and the chances of new players joining the tour seem remote. Even if there were new arrivals, they would have most likely been on international duty too.
Which other players are going on tour?
Amar Fatah, a 20-year-old Sweden Under-21 international, will be part of the tour. He is registered to City Football Group (CFG) club Troyes and spent last season on loan with Lommel, another CFG club — but has been receiving treatment for an injury in Manchester due to the quality of medical care on offer at City and is being taken on tour to help with his ongoing recovery, while giving him a high standard of training.
Argentinian Maximo Perrone, who made his senior debut two seasons ago, is also part of the travelling party.
Due to the sheer number of senior players who will not be taking part, most of the squad will be made up of academy products. Jaden Heskey, son of former England international Emile, and Lakyle Samuel, son of former Aston Villa left-back Jlloyd, will be involved.
Jaden Heskey is heading to the United States (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Tomas Galvez, 19, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, 18, Jadel Katongo, 19, Callum Doyle, 20, and Luke Mbete, 20, are among the defenders who travel, alongside 23-year-old Issa Kabore, who spent last season on loan at Luton Town, and 16-year-old Stephen Mfuni.
Midfielders Jacob Wright, 18, and Mahamadou Susoho, 19, who made their first-team debuts last season, are also in the mix, as well as Micah Hamilton, 20, who has already scored in the Champions League. Nico O’Reilly, 19, Justin Oboavwoduo, 17, Ben Knight, 22, and Joel Ndala, 18, will be looking to impress, too.
(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
