Man City midfielder Nico Gonzalez
Man City midfielder Nico Gonzalez
Manchester City's participation in this summer's Club World Cup has made their pre-season preparations a bit unusual.
had just over three weeks between ending their 2024/25 Premier League season and beginning their Club World Cup exploits in the USA.
12 days ago has meant that City's players will get more rest between now and their pre-season return later this month than they had previously anticipated.
City will take on Palermo in August and will try and fit in one more friendly before their season opener against Wolves on Saturday, August 16.
They did manage to get the bulk of their incoming transfer business sorted before the Club World Cup, with Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Marcus Bettinelli joining the club.
But there is still cope for more transfers - both in terms of incomings and outgoings - and ahead of their pre-season return, here is a look at a number of issues still facing Pep Guardiola this summer.
Right-back dilemma
City finally signed a new left-back this summer with the arrival of Ait-Nouri but it also made clear that they need a specialist right-back.
The sale of Kyle Walker to Burnley signified the end of his time at Eastlands and now it leaves Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes, who prefer to play in midfield, and Abdukodir Khusanov and Manuel Akanji, who prefer to play as centre-backs as right-back options.
The issue is who do City sign? They like Tino Livramento but the likelihood of Newcastle selling the England international this summer to a rival is very slim. Flamengo's Wesley has also been linked.
There are alternatives out there but, certainly publicly, there are no other major names of interest yet.
Inter Milan right-back Denzel Dumfries has a £21.5million release clause that expires in the middle of this month but, aged 29, it remains to be seen if he is the right age profile for City's rebuild.
Gonzalez decision highlights Guardiola issue
The fact City are mulling over cutting their losses on January signing Nico Gonzalez highlights the fact that Guardiola wants to trim his City squad.
Guardiola labelled him a 'mini Rodri' and City paid £50million to sign him from Porto just six months ago. But his future is already coming under scrutiny after the arrival of Reijnders.
If a brutal decision is taken on the Spaniard then decisions, either to leave the club on loan or on a permanent basis, could also be taken on the likes of Vitor Reis, Oscar Bobb among others.
New club for Grealish
Grealish's omission from City's Club World Cup squad seemingly spelt the end of his time at the club as they look to move on the man they paid £100million to sign in the summer of 2021.
The 29-year-old will attract interest from a number of Premier League clubs but City must ensure they find a deal that suits them. Same goes for Kalvin Phillips who is surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium.