They were fears that City would not be able to field enough first-team regulars for the Community Shield fixture against Chelsea.
Although the lack of pre-season training for many of the World Cup representatives, Pep Guardiola has named a strong first XI for the Wembley trip.
Only Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling are not in the squad for the trip to Wembley.
Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez were expected in the first eleven as they have all had a full pre-season training under the manager. One person who has also completed the full schedule at home and the United States is Phil Foden.
A chance for the youngster to stake a claim for a first-team starting position against Arsenal next Sunday, considering the Belgian star man has been allowed the full three weeks off and only has returned this week. He remains a doubt for the start of the Premier League season.
Ederson remains on the bench as Claudio Bravo is given a chance to impress the Spanish manager. In front of him will also be a strong back four, a possible indication of City new regular centre-back pairing.
John Stones and Laporte are the younger of the four contenders, with the Englishman looking to build on a fantastic World Cup. Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi could yet feature from the bench.
In the middle, partnering Sane, Mahrez and Foden is the return of Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva who will want to build on his match-winning performance against Bayern Munich in Miami.
Finally, the man up top needs no introduction to City fans as he is a hero in many Cityzen’s eyes. Sergio Aguero starts and will likely be subbed for Gabriel Jesus at some point in the second half as they both continue their pre-season work.
The opposition has named a strong team for Maurizio Sarri’s first Chelsea competitive game.
Many City eyes will be on one opposition player. Jorginho chose West London over Manchester and he will likely want to show what the opponents missed out on. Should city win today, they will have control the defensive-midfield link the Brazilian-born Italian brings to the team.
Callum Hudson-Odoi will be an intriguing watch as he his mentioned in the same breath as Phil Foden as England’s next superstar. All in a great curtain raiser for the start of the new season.
And, a chance to bring a trophy home for the cabinet but one that will not shed too many tears of City’s fans or players’ if not.