The Premier League kicks off this weekend and all eyes will be on Pep Guardiola's Manchester City after a difficult 2024/25 campaign. It has been a summer of change at the Etihad Stadium and here we look ahead to a season in which City will be determined to bounce back.
Prospects
Saturday evening’s friendly against Italian Serie B side Palermo hinted that Manchester City are back on track on the eve of the new season.
The club grabbed a 3-0 victory in Sicily against their City Football Group stablemate, with John Stones starting after months out with injury and summer signing Tijjani Reijnders scoring twice as a second-half substitute. Goalkeeper James Trafford, another recent recruit, played the first half and looked comfortable for the most part.
The clean sheet will be welcome and the age profile of the starting XI suggests City’s rapid rebuild in 2025 is nearly complete, but there are still some defensive gremlins to purge after their title challenge unravelled last winter.
City also have some injury worries going into the new season and a cluster of players apparently set to leave what is a large first-team squad by recent standards.
Ballon d’Or winner Rodri is out for now and Mateo Kovacic will be sidelined for a couple of months with an Achilles injury, leaving Nico Gonzalez as the only conventional defensive midfielder in the squad. Phil Foden is not expected to be fit for the start of the season, while neither Josko Gvardiol nor Claudio Echeverri travelled last weekend.
Jack Grealish has secured a loan deal at Everton, James McAtee looks likely to leave for Nottingham Forest, while Stefan Ortega and Kalvin Phillips may well depart, too. Savinho has been the subject of reported interest from Spurs.
Guardiola’s side will be a fun watch this season, but City will not be many people’s favourites to reclaim their crown, despite winning the Premier League title in six of the last eight years. Only time will tell whether they can get back to their best after the multiple setbacks of last term or if this will be a year of transition.
Last five finishes
2024/25: 3rd
2023/24: 1st
2022/23: 1st
2021/22: 1st
2020/21: 1st
First five fixtures
August 16: Wolves (A)
August 23: Tottenham (H)
August 31: Brighton (A)
September 14: Manchester United (H)
September 21: Arsenal (A)
The manager
Pep Guardiola: Committed himself to the club until 2027 last autumn and refreshed his coaching staff in the close season, bringing in Kolo Toure and Pepijn Lijnders.
In an intriguing interview with GQ earlier this month, Guardiola said that last season’s downturn was a “healthy process for the club, because success can confuse you”, adding that “you can’t win every time”. He also made the point that the club finished third last term, which represented a drop off from the heights of previous years, but not as deep a dip as some have suggested.
Guardiola sounds philosophical and realistic on the eve of the new campaign. He is also one of the greatest innovators and problem-solvers the sport has ever known. With a squad comprehensively rebuilt in two transfer windows, he may feel his side is on the cusp of a return to the summit.
Star signing
Rayan Cherki: All the summer intake look capable of excelling, including Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves, Rayan Cherki from Lyon, Reijnders from AC Milan and Trafford from Burnley. Midfielder Sverre Nypan and goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli also arrived from Rosenborg and Chelsea respectively, but neither is expected to feature much.
Anyone who saw Cherki’s electric cameo in France’s 5-4 defeat by Spain at the Nations League finals this summer, will be aware of his capabilities. He made his international debut after a stellar season at Lyon, where he finished as top assist provider in both Ligue 1 and the Europa League.
City have to mitigate against the absence of Kevin De Bruyne this season after his departure to Serie A. Cherki, who turns 22 this month, is an incredibly gifted player who could secure the high volume of assists and goals the Belgian provided for a decade.
Key player
Rodri: The Ballon d’Or winner’s latest setback, a groin injury during City’s Club World Cup exit to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, is a reminder of how important Rodri has been to the side’s trophy-laden recent past and how much he is missed when unavailable.
He played 56 times for the club in the treble-winning 2022/23 season and 50 times the following term as well as in major tournaments for Spain. But an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in last September’s dramatic home draw against Arsenal ruled him out until the final moments of the 2024/25 campaign.
City looked meek and vulnerable at times in his absence, particularly during the period from November to March. If Rodri can successfully recover from injury and return to anything close to his prior form, City could be unstoppable this season.
Hot prospect
Oscar Bobb: A fractured leg in last year’s preseason meant Bobb barely featured last term, a situation compounded by a secondary injury in April. Bobb will be familiar to many for his stunning piece of footwork in a De Bruyne-assisted winner away at Newcastle in City’s last title-winning season. He was expected to feature far more heavily last term before injury tore those plans apart.
Bobb scored against Al Ain in the summer’s Club World Cup and put in a good performance in Palermo this month, suggesting he may be on the cusp of a strong comeback at City.
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
The specs: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Price, base: Dh1.2 million
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 725hp @ 6,500pm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.3L / 100km (estimate)
Company%20Profile
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SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Supercharged%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20400hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20430Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GROUPS
Group Gustavo Kuerten
Novak Djokovic (x1)
Alexander Zverev (x3)
Marin Cilic (x5)
John Isner (x8)
Group Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer (x2)
Kevin Anderson (x4)
Dominic Thiem (x6)
Kei Nishikori (x7)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The%20specs
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Story of 2017-18 so far and schedule to come
Roll of Honour
Who has won what so far in the West Asia rugby season?
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
Fixtures
Friday
West Asia Cup final
5pm, Bahrain (6pm UAE time), Bahrain v Dubai Exiles
West Asia Trophy final
3pm, The Sevens, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Sports City Eagles
Friday, April 13
UAE Premiership final
5pm, Al Ain, Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
UAE currency
THE%20SPECS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
Join parent networks
Look beyond school fees
Keep an open mind