It was back in action for the Manchester City squad as they started their pre-season training today (Monday).
Most of the squad returned to the City Football Academy to be put through their paces and undertake fitness checks under Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff.
A number of familiar and unfamiliar faces were seen in the class new training kit.
Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz, Aymeric Laporte, Tosin Adarabioyo and Lukas Nmecha all returned to the squad, where they are expected to remain on the fringes of the matchday squad.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jason Denayer and Patrick Roberts were also back after they had been linked to a number of clubs throughout the summer months.
Getting it done on day one... 💪⚽️🏋️♂️ pic.twitter.com/VOuP8F72jm
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 9, 2018
The Ukrainian has been linked with a move to Wolves in the last week, while Jason Denayer has attracted the interests of a number of European clubs after being deemed surplus to requirements by the coaching team. Patrick Roberts is increasingly likely to be joining Leicester City in the coming weeks as he has attracted their attention, due to the expected loss of Riyad Mahrez who is anticipated to go in the opposition direction.
They will be ready for their pre-season fixtures, which currently are Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool and Bayern Munich all in the International Champions Cup and hosted in the United States.
Players unlikely to feature in those games will be stars currently or had featured at the World Cup. Manchester City had the biggest representation of players at the start of the tournament in Russia.
Pep Guardiola stated before the previous season ended that he will give his World Cup stars at least three weeks minimum to relax before welcoming them back.
"“I’m pretty sure the guys that are going to go to the World Cup – maybe 80 percent like all the big clubs – they will have minimum three weeks off. They are not going to come back [for friendlies]” Pep Guardiola."
With seven stars remaining in the tournament, it is unlikely we will see Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Vincent Kompany featuring on the tour of the United States.
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İlkay Gündoğan exited in the group stages, while David Silva, Bernardo Silva and the South American boys may be ready for a return in the Community Shield against Chelsea.