Manchester City begin their Club World Cup campaign in a matter of weeks
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Rodri celebrates with Club World Cup trophy
Manchester City are raring to go for the Club World Cup despite the expanded competition coming on the back of a difficult and demanding season.
City suffered with injuries throughout the 2024-25 campaign and after a strong start, faded in a disastrous three month spell that saw him fall away in the Premier League and exit the Carabao Cup and Champions league.
Pep Guardiola's side recovered somewhat to piece together an unbeaten 11-game run to finish the top flight season and secure a third place finish and Champions League football. But they were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final to end the season without a trophy.
City played 57 competitive games and have just three weeks between the end of the domestic campaign and their first fixture in the Club World Cup in the United States. But despite that hectic nature, the Blues players are raring to go.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak gave an insight into the mindset of the squad during his annual club interview, which was conducted on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
"All the players, they're excited," he told club media. "They're excited about coming back. Nobody feels good about how we finished the season.
"They want to come back, and they want to come back hungry. And I can see the hunger and these players, they want to come back to pre-season.
"Normally these players are off and they're starting to think about vacation time etc. Honestly, every player I spoke to was telling me, we’re coming back. We’re ready to come back in three weeks’ time.
"I was speaking to Rodri as an example, he's looking for games. Erling didn't want to go on vacation. He wanted to stay with the physios and prepare for next season. That's the attitude you want and that's exactly why you see me so positive."
Rodri spoke in September about the hectic nature of the fixture list and suggested has players are close to going on strike because of the increasing workload. Guardiola too has questioned the need for so many games. If City reach the final of the Club World Cup they will play seven matches with the showpiece on July 13. The 2025-26 Premier League season starts on the weekend of August 16-17 with one fixture set to take place on Friday, August 15.
Al Mubarak continued: "What we are focusing on is the future, always. History is great and it's lovely and we celebrate it, and we enjoy it. But then the page flips and there's a new page to write, and the future is about what we can do together.
"How many more leagues we can keep winning, how many more Champions Leagues we can go on and win. How many Club World Cups we're going to go and win, FA Cups, Carabao Cups, Community Shields. It's writing the next chapter and the following chapter.
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