Manchester City World Cup stars return date – Enzo Maresca introduction, pre-season fixtures – Manchester Evening News
Need to know
Manchester City have 17 players in America who will represent their countries at this summer’s World Cup.
Erling Haaland is just one of the Manchester City stars covering the World Cup this summer (Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Everything you need to know about when Manchester City players will return to training after the World Cup:
- City are the best represented club at this year’s World Cup, with 17 players from North America taking part in the prestigious tournament.
- Of these 17, only three have dropped out of the World Cup so far. Abdukodir Khusanov was knocked out of the group stage by Uzbekistan, while Tijani Reynders and Nathan Ake were eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
- According to FIFPro guidelines, players should have at least four weeks of rest after the final game of the season.
- This means that Khusanov, Reinders and Ake could theoretically return by the last week of July. However, they are expected to be given a longer break.
- As such, all City players at the World Cup will likely miss Enzo Maresca’s appearance in their new team. The arrival of the Italy head coach was confirmed earlier this week.
- City’s pre-season preparations for the 2025/26 season begin on Monday 20 July. This is the day after the World Cup final in New Jersey.
- Although the majority of the first team will be unavailable, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Phil Foden and Rico Lewis will return on the day without having played in the World Cup.
- The Blues will fly to Hong Kong and South Korea later this month for a pre-season tour.
- Their first pre-season match will take place on August 1 when they host Inter Milan in Hong Kong. They will then travel to South Korea to take part in the K-League All Stars XI on August 5, culminating with a match against Atletico Madrid on August 9.
- A week later, on 16 August, City played their first competitive match of the season, taking on Arsenal in the Community Shield at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Their first Premier League match will be on August 23 when they host Bournemouth. Read the full story here.
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