Manchester City have submitted their squad list to the Premier League for the first half of the 2025/26 season, and a name even more surprising than Kalvin Phillips made the cut.
After the closure of the summer 2025 transfer window, it is mandatory for Premier League clubs to submit their squad lists, and they have now been locked in for the first half of the season.
On Friday, it was reported that Man City were set to include Phillips in their 25-man squad, and this has been proven correct.
However, there was a name in the 25-man squad that was perhaps even more surprising to see than that of the England international.
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Luke Mbete of Northampton Town in action during the Sky Bet League One match between Crawley Town FC and Northampton Town FC at Broadfield Stadium on April 26, 2025
Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images
Luke Mbete included in Manchester City’s 25-man Premier League squad
The primary Premier League squad list that Man City submitted to the league consisted of 23 players.
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Goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma, James Trafford, Stefan Ortega and Marcus Bettinelli were all included.
Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Luke Mbete, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol and Rayan Ait-Nouri were the named defenders.
Rodri, Kalvin Phillips, Nico Gonzalez, Tijjani Reijnders, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki were the midfielders.
And finally, attacking quartet Oscar Bobb, Erling Haaland, Omar Marmoush and Jeremy Doku rounded off the primary list.
The likes of Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis, Savinho, and Nico O’Reilly were included on the ‘Under-21 players (Contract and Scholars)’ list.
OFFICIAL: #ManCity's Premier League squad list. ⤵️
Donnarumma, Trafford*, Ortega, Bettinelli*, Nunes, Stones*, Mbete*, Dias, Ake*, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Phillips*, Nico, Reijnders, Kovacic, Bernardo, Foden*, Cherki, Bobb*, Haaland, Marmoush, Doku. (*Home grown)
Note: The…
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) September 12, 2025
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It was particularly surprising to see Mbete’s name on the list, considering he has only made three competitive appearances for City.
In addition, the last of his senior outings for City came in March 2022, when he got six minutes off the bench in the Champions League stalemate with Sporting CP.
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Who is Luke Mbete?
Mbete is a 21-year-old academy graduate – who turns 22 on 18 September – who mostly plays at centre-back but can also feature at left-back.
He spent last season out on loan at Northampton Town and previously had stints at Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Dutch side Den Bosch.
The City website describes Mbete as a ‘brave, strong defender’, an ‘accomplished left-footed centre back and a vocal presence on the pitch’.