Manchester City are currently in the US getting ready for their pre-season games against Liga MX’s Club America and Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga.
After that, they will fly home to play against Liverpool at the King Power Stadium in the annual FA Community Shield curtain raiser.
The squad - consisting of 26 players from both the first-team and the academy level - entered the United States on Sunday and have started their pre-season preparations.
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Amongst them were new additions Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Stefan Ortega and Kalvin Phillips, who were all making their first appearances in the new training kit.
Three players who won’t be traveling with the Sky Blues are Phil Foden, John Stones, and Ilkay Gundogan. The trio will instead accompany the U23s team during their European pre-season tour.
Meanwhile, Oleksandr Zinchenko has provided insight into the team’s preparations for the upcoming season.
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He says the squad has been practicing on both the physical and tactical aspects of the game, but they are mainly trying to shake off the summer cobwebs.
“The target now is to try and build up our physical conditions and the tactical side of things,” Zinchenko began.
“There are a lot of different things (to work on) obviously after a long vacation, a little bit more than three weeks.”
The squad are currently training in Texas, which has raised challenges for the group as the conditions can be rather unforgiving, according to Zinchenko.
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“Now it’s time to work, to be ready and prepare ourselves as much and as well as we can and adapt a bit to the conditions as it’s obviously very hot here,” he explained.
The Ukrainian’s update comes at a time where his days with the Blues may be numbered as he awaits a possible transfer to Arsenal, who are also in the US getting ready for the upcoming season.
The Gunners have apparently reached an agreement with City over Zinchenko, with the price tag being reported as £30 million, with permission being the only thing which stands in the way of the move.
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The move would reunite Zinchenko with former City members Gabriel Jesus and Mikel Arteta.
One reason for Zinchenko’s move is his desire to have more playing time in the midfield, where he is rarely played at under Guardiola.
If Zinchenko does depart the squad, it will end a six-year stint at the Etihad.
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In that time, the Ukrainian star has helped the team to win four Premier League's, reach a Champions League final, and pick up several other domestic accolades.
Topics: Manchester City, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Premier League
Declan Harris