Manchester City will be sending 19 players to the World Cup but it could have been even more if some decisions had gone another way
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 22: Claudio Echeverri #30 of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between Manchester City FC and Al Ain FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on June 22, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Nico Gonzalez and Claudio Echeverri are two to have missed out on the World Cup
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Manchester City will send 19 players to the World Cup this summer in another show of strength in their squad. The Blues tend to attract players who develop into some of the best in the game, and a move to the Etihad generally boosts the chances for any player wanting to make it in their national team.
That has been the case for Rayan Cherki, who made his international debut for France last summer but has cemented his place in their squad after a fine first year in English football. James Trafford has also done enough to keep his place in the England squad, even if he didn't get to play as much as he would have liked after City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma.
There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule though. Taking aside the fact that Donnarumma's Italy didn't qualify, there could still have been more Blues off to North America this summer if things had worked out differently.
Jack Grealish was unable to prove himself on loan at Everton - not helped by injury - and Phil Foden could not sustain the form that saw him back to his best between October and December. Then there are four players who joined a lot more recently.
Nico Gonzalez filled in for Rodri with aplomb for most of 2025 after his £49m switch from Porto, yet when the Ballon d'Or winner returned it was almost exclusively at the cost of Gonzalez. The 24-year-old barely started a game in the final months of the season and didn't even make the squad in some matches in one of the most dramatic falls in the squad.
Savinho, who arrived at City six months earlier, made his debut for the Brazil team before joining the Blues and made the majority of his 13 appearances for them in 2024. There were just two last year, and he didn't even make the 55-man long list for Carlo Ancelotti's squad for the World Cup.
Claudio Echeverri came in the same window as Gonzalez and wanted a loan this season to catapult him into Argentina's squad. City wanted him to go to Girona but he instead went to Leverkusen, the transfer was a disaster, and he ended up at Girona anyway for the second part of the campaign.
Echeverri did manage to make the 55-man list for Argentina this summer but didn't make the final cut and will have to reflect on the choices taken over the last year. The same goes for Norwegian prospect Sverre Nypan, who came last summer with high hopes but only lasted six months at Middlesbrough before that disappointing loan spell was cut short and ended the season playing with City's Under-21s.