What to expect from Manchester City’s pre-season tour of the United States

After a hugely profitable trip to Asia last summer, Manchester City will join many other Premier League sides in heading to the United States for pre-season training.

Last summer’s tournament brought in around $20m (£15.5m) for City as fans in Japan and South Korea were eager to see Pep Guardiola and his players in action. Some 23,000 fans showed up just to watch the team train in Seoul, while thousands more watched on TV.

But it was often too hot to train and the players struggled to sleep, so they will hope the American trip will provide better physical and mental preparation for next season. Here, The Athletic explains who City will face and which of their star names should be involved.

Who are City playing in this tournament?

City will play four games in the States, kicking off against Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 7.30pm local time on Tuesday (12.30pm early Wednesday UK time). The team then flies north-west to New York for a match against AC Milan at 6pm local time (11pm UK time) on Saturday 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 wrap things up against Chelsea in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday 3 August at 5.30pm local time (10.30pm UK time). It takes place at the 102,000-seat Ohio Stadium on the Ohio State University campus.

Ohio Stadium: Big (Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

Which senior players will be in the USA?

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 left early, there will be enough familiar names to keep people excited.

Erling Haaland is the main attraction wherever he goes, and luckily for City, Norway never seem to qualify for the big tournaments, so he’ll be center stage in the States. Jack Grealish, who has had a difficult season and paid the price by being left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad, will also be eager to get going for City.

Haaland and Grealish enjoyed a longer pre-season (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Ederson missed the Copa with a facial injury and, despite interest from Saudi Arabia, will be in the squad. Kalvin Phillips is included despite City looking to move him before the start of the season. Stefan Ortega, who signed a new contract in the summer, will battle it out with Ederson for the No. 1 spot. The perennial Scott Carson, 38, also travels.

Academy products Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis, as well as James McAtee, who spent the last two seasons at Sheffield United, will be given the chance to head into the new season.

Croatians Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol will join the squad from New York.

Will others join after that?

Not quite, not exactly. All players who made it out of the group stage with their countries were given extended time off. Even though they could have three weeks off and join the U.S. team, they will be given extra time with their families.

That means Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji (plus Joao Cancelo) will only return in the days leading up to the Community Shield against Manchester United on August 10.

International finalists John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Rodri and Julian Alvarez will not feature in the tournament either. Alvarez is set to represent his country again with Argentina involved in the Paris Olympics.

Rodri and Phil Foden are two of the City stars resting up after their Euro 2024 escapades (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

What about the 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 give City a bit of balance next season, with Grealish and Doku already on the left and Foden and Bernardo more likely to be use. central more often.

The bad news is that the Brazilian is not expected in the tournament after his Copa America campaign, so fans will have to wait to see him.

(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Want more bad news? It seems unlikely that City will bring in any more new faces unless players leave. Even those who attract interest, such as Ederson and Alvarez, are considered too expensive by their suitors.

Nunes’ move to Saudi Arabia could open up a place in midfield, but all is quiet from that point of view and the chances of new players joining the tournament seem remote. Even if they were new arrivals, they would most likely have been on international duty as well.

What 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 with City Football Group (CFG) club Troyes and spent last season on loan with Lommel, another CFG club – but received treatment for an injury in Manchester due to the quality of medical care provided at City and is being taken. on tour to aid his continued recovery while providing him with a high standard of training.

Argentina’s Maximo Perrone, who made his senior debut two seasons ago, is also part of the traveling party.

Due to the large number of senior players who will not be participating, the majority of the squad will be made up of academy products. Jaden Heskey, son of former England international Emile, and Lakeyle Samuel, son of former Aston Villa left-back Jlloyd, will be involved.

Jaden Heskey heads 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 traveling defenders, along with Issa Kabore, 23, who spent last season on loan. at Luton Town and Stephen Mfuni, aged 16.

Midfielders Jacob Wright, 18, and Mahamadou Susoho, 19, who made their first-team debuts last season, are also in the mix, as is 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 also be looking to impress.

(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)