Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has returned for pre-season with a familiar mentality that he expects his players to match
Manchester City are back to it in Miami
Manchester City are back to it in Miami
"Good to be back, eh?" Those were the first words that Pep Guardiola greeted Nathan Ake with as the pair met up on the first day of pre-season.
Ake had waited an age on the sidelines of the last campaign, kept out with two separate substantial injuries that saw him miss large chunks of the year. Having made his second big comeback in May for Manchester City, he then played an hour of international football before returning to Manchester - soon to be greeted by Netherlands teammate Tijjani Reijnders - to be ready for the Club World Cup.
As he walked in with Guardiola, the manager added: "We'll rest when we're dead."
There's a certain feel of gallows humour for City heading out to the Club World Cup. Manu Akanji has been one of the strongest critics of the competition, claiming that the players don't want to be in it amid major welfare concerns for players who are already pulled from global pillar to post with the domestic and international calendar.
At the same time, City have to accept their reality. They have to cut their summers short and try and navigate a way through another massive year that will end for most of them back in the United States for the World Cup because that is what they have signed up to in their contracts.
It just so happens that the most congested fixture list yet also coincides with the biggest changes in a summer for City since 2017.
Underperformances throughout the squad last year has already seen the owners take action, with eight signings so far in 2025 and a ninth on the way in a transfer spree that will hit almost £300m.
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It is not that returning players could coast in previous summers, but this year in particular everyone has to prove themselves all over again that little bit more. If they do not rise to the challenge, there is a boatload of new stars ready to step in.
That competition is what City hope will see them rise collectively again, carrying that mentality through the heavy workloads and tough conditions to send a message out to the rest of the world that they will not buckle whatever the circumstances. The Club World Cup comes as an ideal early test then for everyone to show everything they have got.
They will need to, because Guardiola will be watching as he looks for who can - and who cannot - follow his command.
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