Manchester City set to lose key backroom staff member to Maddison Square Garden Group

Manchester City are bracing themselves for the departure of their head of sports science in the coming weeks, a report has revealed.

The Premier League champions have seen significant stability in the leading roles at the Etihad Stadium, most notably regarding their first team head coach position,

Since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2016, Pep Guardiola has been the focal mainstay of the Manchester City project, guiding his squad to numerous trophies in England.

However, the club have been accustomed to significant interest in members behind the scenes and within Pep Guardiola's coaching staff.

Mikel Arteta was an understudy to the Catalan coach during his first few years at the club, before leaving to join Premier League rivals Arsenal and taking on their top coaching role.

Joe Shields - an academy recruitment chief at the Etihad Stadium - also left in the summer to join Southampton, and front a large share of their first-team recruitment drive.

The latest name to be poised to leave the club in the coming weeks is Manchester City's head of sports science.

This is according to the information of David Ornstein of The Athletic, who reports that Sam Erith - who currently holds the aforementioned role - will leave the club during the World Cup break in November.

Erith will reportedly take up a role with the Maddison Square Garden Group in New York, overseeing the Knicks basketball team and the Rangers hockey team.

The report highlights that Sam Erith has been in the role at Manchester City for 11 years, playing an integral role in the consistent high-level performances of the club throughout Pep Guardiola and Manuel Pellegrini's tenure.

Supporters of Manchester City will also note that Erith and his work at the club has featured in a series of documentaries on the team's success in recent years.

First appearing in Amazon’s 'All Or Nothing' series, before then featuring in Manchester City's in-house docu-series, Erith offered supporters with additional details into how he maintains the club's first-team players at their physical peak.

Elsewhere, Merseyside Police have confirmed that they have received a complaint of alleged criminal damage to Manchester City's coach following the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

A statement released on Wednesday morning read, "We have now received a report of an alleged criminal damage of the Manchester City team coach following the Liverpool and Manchester City game on Sunday 16 October."

"The incident of alleged damage to the windscreen was reported to us on Tuesday 18 October, and further enquires are ongoing.

“Anyone with information, video, CCTV or dashcam footage is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ quoting reference 22000766792."

Manchester City return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon, when they take on Brighton at the Etihad Stadium.