Manchester City welcomed back a number of injured players back to training on Thursday in a significant boost to Pep Guardiola’s preparations for Sunday’s derby against Manchester United.
City were facing as many as 11 first team players out against United after a spate of injuries and withdrawals over the international break.
However, Guardiola welcomed back five players as City began preparations to face United, offering Guardiola more options as he looks to field a competitive side against their biggest rivals.
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As supporters scoured training photographs to see which of their first team players might be available against United, they were surprised to see a forgotten face not seen in over a year.
Kalvin Phillips added to Manchester City training ahead of Manchester United after failing to get transfer away
City managed to get a number of fringe players off their books this summer, but one player who did not leave was Kalvin Phillips, who has spent time over the last two seasons out on loan at West Ham and then Ipswich Town.
Pep Guardiola made clear during last season’s pre-season tour that he ‘struggled to see’ Phillips in his system, and has not played him in a competitive game since December 2023. He failed to make much of an impact at Ipswich, and there were no obvious transfer approaches for Phillips this season.
Chelsea FC v Manchester City - Pre-Season Friendly
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Now, he is back at City until January at least, and was seen training with his teammates ahead of the United game. However, he has been omitted from the club’s Champions League squad and is not guaranteed to be given a place in the Premier League squad.
If Phillips was to feature, he would be sporting a new shirt number after City gave his number four shirt to new signing Tijjani Reijnders. According to City’s website, Phillips has been allocated the number 44 instead.
Five Manchester City players return to training ahead of Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola to give update on Friday
Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol were left out of their national team squads over the last fortnight due to lingering fitness issues. Gvardiol hasn’t featured yet this season, while Foden didn’t travel to Brighton last time out.
Urawa Reds v Manchester City FC: Semi-Final - FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023
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Both are back in training, however, and could be in line to be included against United. Likewise, Savinho has stepped up training after injury kept him out of all fixtures so far this season.
Nico O’Reilly withdrew from England under-21 duty with an unspecified injury issue, but was training at the City Football Academy on Thursday, as was third-choice goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
City are still waiting for news on John Stones, Rico Lewis, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Mateo Kovacic, while Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki have definitely been ruled out with their injury problems.