2. A youthful team
Pep Guardiola announced his preseason tour squad, and there are a huge number of academy graduates.
Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy are set to join the side later in the tour, however the Sky Blues begin their warm-up campaign with a number of youngsters.
Surprising names include Joe Hart – beleaguered and expected to be no more than a fringe player – and former Galatasaray loanee Jason Denayer.
Leroy Sane and Mahrez, as mentioned before, represent the stardust. The rest of the squad is bulked out by fledgling players hoping for their taste of action against top quality opposition.
The vibrant Phil Foden, a feature in the Champions League and League Cup before injury, is in the squad alongside other recognisable players Tosin Adarabioyo and Brahim Diaz.
Ex-Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte is another of Pep Guardiola’s supposed ‘big names’ and will lead the line from the back.
Apart from that, this season’s breakout star might well be in this squad. Phil Foden, England World Cup winner at U17 level, was undoubtedly last term’s biggest rise to prominence. He will look to continue his emergence as a first team player and this preseason might indicate to Guardiola whether giving him a chance in the Premier League is an option.
Several teenagers, including Welshman Rabbi Matondo, has also been on the radar and will earn his first team football in this campaign.
Aleksandr Zinchenko – midfielder converted to full back last year – and Claudio Bravo are others who perhaps ring a bell.
And another one to watch is Brazilian Douglas Luiz.
The Sky Blues bought the talented 20-year-old from Vasco da Gama back in 2017, an
d he returns from his loan to Spanish club Girona with the aim of garnering more experience in Manchester. He is a part of this side, and whether Guardiola will ship him out for another loan spell is up for question.