Manchester City will get six World Cup players back before their pre-season tour to Asia, a useful boost after 17 squad members were away on international duty. Enzo Maresca still has a staggered return to manage, but the picture is better than it looked when the summer started. City fly to Hong Kong next Tuesday, and that shortens the window for getting everyone on the same page.
The players coming back early
The six expected back before the trip are Abdukodir Khusanov, Mateo Kovačić, Joško Gvardiol, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Antoine Semenyo. Maresca said he will welcome them back before the tour, while also noting that some of those World Cup involvements have taken longer than others.
The workload varies. Kovačić played four matches and 259 minutes, while Gvardiol's tournament ended on 166 minutes across four outings. Khusanov played three matches and 292 minutes, and he was the only City squad player not to get out of the group stage.
What City face in Asia
City face Inter in Hong Kong on August 1, then head to Korea for fixtures against a K-League XI and Atletico. That is a decent summer test for Maresca, but it is also one he will enter without a fully settled squad. Rayan Cherki, Rodri, James Trafford, Nico O'Reilly, Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson will be on holiday while City are in Asia.
For a new manager, that is hardly ideal. Six early returns do not solve the whole problem, but they do give Maresca a far better base to work with before the campaign proper starts. A club that had 17 players on World Cup duty can at least begin pre-season with some rhythm.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
