De Bruyne 'has the credit to decide his future himself'published at 10:34 30 July
10:34 30 July
Image source, Getty Images
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has reiterated that there are currently no offers on the table for Kevin de Bruyne.
But he added that the 33-year-old Belgium midfielder, who has spent nine trophy-laden seasons at the club, has earned the right to decide where he wants to play football.
“He was here before I arrived. He is the eldest (longest serving) player here.
“It happened with David [Silva] for example and other players, he has the credit to decide his future himself.
“What he has done for us is massive so he can decide. The information I have now is he will stay.”
'Players generally hate these pre-season friendlies'published at 10:22 30 July
10:22 30 July
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Pat Nevin, former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger writing in his Football Extra newsletter:
The pre-season friendlies are in full swing and let's be straight about this, the players generally hate these games, whatever they say.
They clearly haven't had enough rest in the summer, it is a grind getting your body back into peak shape, especially if the accumulated injuries from last season haven’t been allowed to fully recover.
The games themselves are weird affairs, where you would like to win but that is nowhere near the most important thing. Fitness, integrating new players, possibly a new manager and sometimes a new system are each more important. You also know full well that it is a hotch-potch of a team selection to give players minutes. The fans, mass media and social media will read far too much into every game and every performance.
From within the team itself, there are different motivations. A young or new player being given his first chance will be racing about like an overexcited spaniel. Other experienced players will be easing themselves back into it, the primary concern in their minds is to be fit and healthy come the first weekend of the Premier League season.
Deep down they don't worry if they get thumped by Celtic or DC United on their US tours, nobody at Chelsea or Aston Villa will remember or care about these results in two weeks' time.
Unless of course you are a DC or indeed Celtic fan. The Celts just beat Chelsea and Man City. Now that is impressive pre-season form or is that just Scottish bias.
'Amazing experience' for City's youngsters on US tourpublished at 08:02 30 July
08:02 30 July
Image source, Getty Images
With many of his Premier League title-winners still recovering from a busy international summer, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has given first-team chances to several younger players during the club's tour of the United States.
Although friendly games against AC Milan and Celtic were both lost by a one-goal margin, We're Not Really Here presenter Natalie Pike believes the academy prospects involved will really benefit from their opportunities.
"It's an amazing experience for them," she told the podcast from BBC Radio Manchester.
"Think about them out there experiencing the stadiums, those crowds, and to be training so closely one-on-one with Pep and his coaching staff, and training next to Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish."
We're Not Really Here's Mike Minay and Natalie Pike have a message for their podcast listeners.
Media caption,
🎧A final We're Not Really Herepublished at 15:16 29 July
15:16 29 July
We're Not Really Here have recorded their final episode.
In this week's show, BBC Radio Manchester Mike Minay and Natalie Pike discuss Manchester City's pre-season so far and offer a parting message for listeners.
Which player was 'extremely impressive'? Fan views on friendly defeatpublished at 09:40 29 July
09:40 29 July
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We asked for your views on Manchester City's 3-2 defeat by AC Milan in the United States.
Here are some of your comments:
Rhiannon: Obviously not happy with the result but the purpose of pre-season is to see which players are ready to be introduced into the first team. Bobb and McAtee should be seen more regularly next season. Hopefully we can bounce back next game and we should sell Phillips and bring in a De Bruyne replacement. We need more signings to improve our squad.
John: Oscar Bobb looking like he's ready to step up. It'd be great if McAtee could do the same.
Stiffler: I'm pretty confident we will have a good season. Haaland is looking refreshed and will score loads of goals and Bobb will surely get more minutes. The teams that have had players at the Euros might be sluggish at first but the cream always rises to the top.
John: No problem with these friendly defeats, it's all about getting minutes. Bobb extremely impressive and I like O'Reilly, Hamilton and Doyle. Ederson should have kept the score down, but he's still the best.
Gossip: Villa want Phillips on loanpublished at 07:45 29 July
'We were better than the first game' - Guardiolapublished at 12:50 28 July
12:50 28 July
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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says it was a "step forward" for his side, despite their 3-2 defeat by AC Milan.
Erling Haaland put City in front at the Yankee Stadium when he steered in a left-foot shot from an Oscar Bobb pull-back.
Lorenzo Colombo equalised and quickly added a second for the Italian side as they went into half-time in the the lead.
James McAtee headed in for City to level the game at 2-2 before Marco Nasti scored a winner with a first-time shot from the edge of the box to give AC Milan victory.
Guardiola's side also came up short in the first game of their pre-season US tour against Celtic, but the City boss feels the Premier League champions are making progress.
"We were better than the first game and some of the players made a step forward," he said after the match.
"It was really good in general, everyone was really good against a senior Champions League team like AC Milan.
"It was a step forward, no injuries, minutes in our legs, another test and now we fly to another game in a few days."
Full-time: Man City 2-3 AC Milanpublished at 08:45 28 July
08:45 28 July
Manchester City suffered a second defeat of their US pre-season tour as they lost 2-3 to AC Milan at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Striker Erling Haaland opened the scoring for City in the 19th minute, but Italy under-21 international Lorenzo Colombo answered for Milan in the 30th and 34th minutes to give the Serie A side a 2-1 lead at half-time.
The Premier League champions equalized in the 55th minute through 21-year-old forward James McAtee, before Marco Nasti netted the winner 12 minutes from full-time.
Which Premier League clubs fly the most in pre-season?published at 08:07 28 July
08:07 28 July
David Lockwood BBC Sport Editorial Sustainability Lead
Image source, Getty Images
Los Angeles or Chesterfield? San Diego or Salford?
The pre-season destinations of 20 Premier League clubs may be varied, but the issue remains the same - the impact of so many flights.
Half (10) of the clubs have flown to the United States for friendlies; three have travelled to the Far East and the rest are in Europe and the UK.
Manchester United's pre-season schedule see them flying almost 13,000 miles playing fixtures in Norway, Scotland, and across the US. Chelsea and Tottenham are also expected to fly in excess of 12,000 miles.
In contrast, Everton will fly the least, with just one fixture outside the UK in the Republic of Ireland.
Spurs and Newcastle also played an exhibition fixture in May - three days after the season finished - for which they both flew to Melbourne, Australia, a game Alan Shearer described as “madness”. Add in those air miles and both teams will have travelled in excess of 30,000 air miles in the close-season, equivalent to more than once around the globe, to play in non-competitive matches.
Newcastle and Spurs both have a target to be Net Zero by 2030, while Manchester United and Chelsea are in process of establishing an emissions reduction plan.
Net Zero requires the reduction and removal of all 'non-essential emissions' - so are these games essential?
Wycombe's David Wheeler is a leading sustainability campaigner in football and told BBC Sport: "These games are only necessary in the sense that the clubs want to make more money and grow their fan base".
He added: "The vast majority of players don't want to be away from their families, they don't want to be travelling around the world after a full slog of a season. They're overworked and injuries have gone through the roof, so there is a synergy between player welfare and planetary welfare."
An estimated travelling group of 30 flying 12,864 air miles business class generates around 200 tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of 500,000 miles driven by an average petrol car, or the entire annual emissions for a year of 16 people in the UK.
Tottenham said it is "committed to minimising its environmental impact" in all its operations, "which will take time and effort". The club says it "ensures" all teams travel "as sustainably as possible throughout the season". It "measures, manages and reports on travel emissions" and will offsets "where possible."
Including the May trip to Australia for Newcastle and Tottenham more than doubles those two clubs' total flights in the close-season and puts them way above the rest of the Premier League for environmental impact
Gossip: City eye De Bruyne successorpublished at 13:04 27 July
13:04 27 July
Manchester City see Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Jamal Musiala, 21, as a potential successor to Belgium playmaker Kevin de Bruyne, 33. (Caught Offside), external
Palermo use Manchester as away kit launchpublished at 17:13 25 July
17:13 25 July
Mike Minay BBC Radio Manchester reporter
Image source, Palermo FC
Clubs love a kit launch. What fancy pattern will we see? Who's going to model it? Can we get a rapper to bring a lyrical thread to the cotton threads?
Can they really tap into the history of a club? Manchester City this year have gone down the '0161' dialling code route.
But City Football Group sister club Palermo have chosen to launch their away strip in Manchester!
The home kit, or 'chapter one' as it was in the launch video, was debuted in New York and now 'chapter two' - the away kit - is told in a love story across Manchester.
'This is where I belong' tells the story of two English Palmero fans who's relationship is told across the city from St Peter's Square to the Northern Quarter.
Palermo are currently in Manchester training at the City Football Academy and will debut the black away shirt in a friendly against Leicester City on Friday in Chesterfield.
'Ederson should be kept at all costs'published at 16:55 24 July
16:55 24 July
We asked whether you whether goalkeeper Ederson should stay or leave this summer following interest from the Saudi Pro League.
Here are some of your replies:
Craig: I would like Ederson to stay, but if a player's mind is made up that he wants to go then let him go as this will only cause unrest among the other players if it hasn't already.
Tyler: Ederson should stay with City because the future is still bright.
Rhiannon: We should cash in on Ederson while we still can and bring in Diogo Costa, who had a good Euros, or Gianluigi Donnarumma because he is similar to Ederson. My preferred choice would be Costa.
Ian: Ederson should be kept at all costs as he is key to our playing style. He's still capable of playing at the highest level and should resist the temptation of an early retirement.
Colin: If he wants to leave us then let him go. We don't want anyone who isn't committed to our great club.
Marshall: If a good offer comes in then I think we should take it. Ederson is a good goalkeeper but he’s getting old and we need to start thinking about the future.
Will Ederson stay or move on?published at 13:51 24 July
13:51 24 July
There is uncertainty over the future of Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, following Pep Guardiola's comments after their pre-season friendly defeat to Celtic.
Speaking about his first-choice goalkeeper, the manager said: "I would like him to stay but it depends on other clubs. I don't know the situation. There has been no contact in the last days."
What do you think should happen?
Is it time for a change? Or should the Brazilian be kept at all costs?
'Makes me worry about a fifth consecutive title' published at 13:45 24 July
13:45 24 July
We asked for your opinions following Manchester City's 4-3 pre-season loss to Celtic in North Carolina.
Here are some of your responses:
Jonny G: Great first game back. Movement and skills great against a team a week away from their season starting. Nice to see all those youngsters fitting into the system at ease. Bodes well for their futures. Wish I was going to NYC.
Phil: Celtic! Wow, the fact we lost to Celtic makes me worry about a fifth consecutive title.
David: We played really well in the second half, but I think that if we had begun the game better, we would have had them running around in circles. Onto the next in NYC against Milan. We can hopefully step it up a level.
Marshall: I think we should have won but it’s pre-season so give some of the youngsters a chance.
Image source, Getty Images
