Manchester City have confirmed their official return date to the City Football Academy ahead of the start of their pre-season training camp.
The large majority of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City squad have had little to no time at all this summer to rest and recover from the intensity of the most-recent club campaign, heading straight into immediate duties with their respective national teams.
A large portion of the Manchester City first-team squad were selected for duties by their European national teams for the ongoing Euro 2024 tournament in Germany this summer, whilst Julian Alvarez was the club’s only representative at Copa America.
But as tournaments come towards their conclusions with semi-finals and finals now looming, the Premier League champions are already looking towards the return of their duties with a date now announced as to when stars will begin filtering back to their training base.
As confirmed by Manchester City this week, manager Pep Guardiola and some of his first-team squad will return to the City Football Academy for their first day of pre-season training on Monday 15 July.
However, it is pointed out that players who have participated at the European Championships or Copa America will report back later, with Rodri, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden, Nathan Ake and Julian Alvarez involved in the semi-final stage of the tournaments.
Following several days of initial training in Manchester, the Premier League champions will then fly to the United States later on this month for a four-match tour across multiple cities along the east coast of the country.
That tour will begin against Scottish Premier League champions Celtic at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill on Tuesday 23 July, before heading to New York’s iconic Yankee Stadium for a meeting with AC Milan on Saturday 27 July.
Manchester City’s penultimate pre-season contest will see them take on FC Barcelona at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Tuesday 30 July, before their US tour will conclude with a clash against Chelsea in Columbus at the Ohio Stadium on Saturday 3 August.
While there had been some hope that Manchester City would have new signings through the door to showcase on their pre-season tour of the United States, their summer transfer window activity has been significantly limited.
Brazil winger Savio is currently the only new face expected to be signed on by Manchester City officials in time for the pre-season tour of the USA, with the 20-year-old viewing the aforementioned four-game showcase as an opportunity to impress club coaches.
Manchester City will however have a brand new home kit to market to their rapidly-growing American audience whilst in the States, and there is an understanding that another new kit launch could arrive in time for the tour.