Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has plenty on his mind ahead of selecting his team for Saturday’s friendly fixture against Palermo at the Renzo Barbera Stadium in Sicily.
The Catalan coach is not expected to take a full squad to Italy, with Mateo Kovacic and Kalvin Phillips known to be two guaranteed absentees after undergoing surgery on Achilles injuries earlier this summer.
Nico O’Reilly missed Tuesday’s open training session due to a minor issue and will be assessed ahead of the trip to Palermo, while Guardiola will weigh up whether to select star lynchpin Rodri who has been gradually building up his fitness in preparation for City’s opening Premier League fixture away against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 16.
Vitor Reis is on the verge of joining Girona on loan and Jahmai Simson-Pusey has already completed a temporary switch to Celtic, while Jack Grealish, James McAtee, Stefan Ortega and Claudio Echeverri are four players who are unlikely to travel amid speculation about their futures.
Man City have made six signings so far this summer and five of those could be involved in some capacity on Saturday, with James Trafford, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and backup shot-stopper Marcus Bettinelli all in contention to feature.
Erling Haaland, the only Man City player to be nominated for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, is likely to be given a run-out up front, either from the start or as a substitute, while the like of Omar Marmoush, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Oscar Bobb are also in contention to play in the final third.
Rico Lewis scored the only goal in a 1-0 behind-closed-doors friendly win over Preston North End last weekend and he is set to battle with Matheus Nunes for a start at right-back, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov are all centre-back options at Guardiola’s disposal.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo, Reijnders; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Marmoush
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