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New York Times
6 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Manchester City Transfer DealSheet: Summer window latest, key positions and available players
Manchester City have just experienced their toughest season under Pep Guardiola, and the summer is expected to see numerous changes among the playing and coaching staff as they look to bounce back from it. Albeit a third-place finish in the Premier League and being runners-up in the FA Cup being seen a disappointments shows the standards set since Guardiola arrived nine years ago, but however it is looked at, their struggles last season need rectifying. Advertisement There are already changes being announced among the coaching staff, and on the pitch, following several signings in the January window, City will bring in some new faces, while losing others. Here, The Athletic looks at what to expect from the deposed champions' summer. Summer 2025 marks a period of transition for City in this regard. Txiki Begiristain, who was director of football at Barcelona between 2003 and 2010 and has held the same title at City since 2012, is leaving after the Club World Cup, which runs to July 13. He is being replaced by Hugo Viana, who was expected to see out the season with Sporting CP but left the Portuguese club at the end of the January window and officially started work at City in April. The club have been doing all they can to ensure a smooth handover, which is why Begiristain is staying on until after the upcoming competition in the United States, with the new mini-transfer window before that tournament being a key time to make moves. City Football Group chief executive Ferran Soriano remains in place, but Riccardo Bigon is another fresh voice in the decision-making ranks. He was appointed City Football Group's new global football technical director in October after six years as sporting director at Italian club Bologna. There is the possibility that Ederson, their first-choice goalkeeper of the past eight years, could leave, so a new face at that position might be on the cards. Stefan Ortega is an able deputy but the German also left his future in doubt over recent months. So, too, are the full-back positions, where Guardiola took to deploying midfielders Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly due to the lack of options over the season's final months. We reported on Monday that City are pursuing a deal to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Advertisement The gaping hole left by club great Kevin De Bruyne, who announced in April that he is leaving City this summer at the end of his contract, also needs to be filled. There is unlikely to be one single player who can replicate his creative output, so a mixture of ones already at the club and a couple of additions looks to be the formula. Another wide player is also likely, with Jack Grealish's slide down the pecking order leaving only Jeremy Doku and Savinho as conventional wingers. To condense the squad. In an era where most elite managers are pleading for bigger squads to cope with the relentless schedule at the top of the game, Guardiola is railing against that thinking. 'I don't want to leave five or six players in the tribune (stand, having been left out of the matchday squad),' he said, after the 3-1 win against Bournemouth in May. 'I don't want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay. I don't want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If I have injuries, (then we're) unlucky; we have some players from the academy, and we do it.' As well as Ait-Nouri, City are keen on Milan's Tijjani Reijnders. The Netherlands international recently named Serie A midfielder of the year would fill one of the No 8 spots that City are lacking players for. Turning 27 in July, Reijnders is entering his peak years compared to would-be team-mates Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, who will be 35 and 31 respectively early next season. City were interested in Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz, but Liverpool appear to be his preferred destination. They are exploring a deal for Lyon's Rayan Cherki, while Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White is another player City under consideration to bolster their midfield options. Ederson is open to a move to the Saudi Pro League, which could have happened last summer had a club there met City's valuation. He only has one year remaining on his contract. Grealish is another who could fetch a significant fee. He was a spare part for most of last season, starting only seven Premier League games, being left on the bench 12 times and failing to make the squad on the final day of the season with Champions League qualification at stake. Advertisement Fellow England international John Stones could potentially move on if clubs come in with the right sort of offers. He managed only 13 starts in all competitions last season and with Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov to pick from, City may be carrying an extra central-defensive body when everyone is fit. Claudio Echeverri could be a player City Football Group uses its network to develop. He was signed from River Plate in January 2024 but was loaned back to them so he could play first-team minutes in Argentina. He eventually made his City debut as a substitute in the FA Cup final defeat last month, in which he spurned several big chances, and it could be that the 19-year-old is one who needs to play more before being expected to perform in the Premier League. Agreements still need to be reached between City and Wolves for Ait-Nouri, but all parties now expect a move to happen. City also had an opening bid for Rejnders rejected last week, and the clubs remain apart on a fee. Rejnders only signed a new deal in March, which ties him to Milan until 2030, so they are keen to extract top value for one of their star players. It is expected that City will return with an improved offer. City are in a healthy position, even after their £183million ($248m) January spree. They should be able to invest heavily this summer in refreshing the squad. In the three years to the end of last season, City booked a cumulative pre-tax profit of £195.9million. Using a combination of estimates and figures disclosed in the accounts, The Athletic's BookKeeper projected City's PSR headroom in last season's calculation came to around £324m. The fees for Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, Khusanov and Reis will be spread across four and a half years, and City also brought in big money by selling Julian Alvarez, Joao Cancelo and Liam Delap. (Top photos: Reijnders, left, and Gibbs-White; Getty Images)
Reuters
2 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Singular focus key to Melbourne City's title win, says coach Vidmar
June 1 (Reuters) - Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar credited his side's singular focus as the reason for claiming the A-League championship on Saturday after a 1-0 Grand Final win over neighbours Melbourne Victory earned the club their first title since 2021. Yonatan Cohen's 10th-minute goal was enough to decide a feisty derby clash at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium and secure the City Football Group-owned outfit only their second Australian championship in five finals appearances. "It's an unbelievable feeling, to be honest," said Vidmar. "It probably wasn't the prettiest of Grand Finals but it was gritty, we fought for every inch and I'm so rapt for everyone - the players, obviously, but everyone at the club. "Everyone was always heading in the right direction, even when we had those setbacks and hiccups. "No one ever wavered. That was the direction we were going and we stayed true to ourselves, stayed true to our principles and so rapt for everyone." Vidmar reserved special praise for Mathew Leckie, who put in a man-of-the-match performance despite playing in an unfamiliar central midfield role and suffering a suspected broken nose in an accidental clash with Zinedine Machach in the second half. The Australia international has rarely featured this season due to injury but dominated at the heart of the City team, even though his head was heavily bandaged for more than 30 minutes due to lacerations on his face. "I think he's gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson, he's pretty banged up," said Vidmar. "He was enormous for us tonight, absolutely enormous. We let the Ferrari get out of the garage tonight and he just played an incredible game. "He had a lot of issues this year, he had a lot of issues also going into this game but he's such a tough competitor, a guy that always wants to win. "He just fought to the death, absolutely enormous." After claiming his first A-League championship as a coach, Vidmar is hoping for a similar result next season, although he refused to look too far ahead with celebrations to come for some of his squad and national team commitments for others. "We're not going to talk about what happens next year until we come back" for preseason, he said. "It's never easy, the second year. But if our focus is right, if our intentions are right from the very first day of preseason, then generally you get a good feel. "And that's definitely the feel we had the first day of preseason this year."
Arab News
3 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
‘We're going in there to win it': Manchester City chairman targets FIFA Club World Cup success
ABU DHABI: Manchester City's chairman, Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, has provided his annual review of the season to the club's official online channel. In part 2 of the interview he reveals the team's desire to retain the FIFA Club world Cup taking place in June and discusses the developments taking place across City Football Group. Here are some of the highlights. On the FIFA Club World Cup… 'Well, as the defending champions coming into this new format, of course, we're very excited. We're very excited to come in as champions. The format actually, I really like it. 'This is a very, very serious competition. I think, in the summer, the whole world will be watching this with a big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament. 'I can assure you we're going to give it our best shot. We're going in there to win it. This is the beginning of the new season, not the continuation of last season. 'The team will take the rest that they will take right now, and then they start pre-season and then immediately straight into the Club World Cup.' On Manchester City's North Stand redevelopment… 'It's coming up very fast. It's going to be a great addition to the campus. Once we start the new season, everybody will start physically seeing it a lot clearer. 'The hotel is also coming up nicely. It's moving very, very fast, but we're happy with the contractors on the ground. This is going to be a game changer. You will see over these next 12 to 18 months. This is going to be a game changer for the campus and for the club.' On NYCFC… 'Well, more than the foundation, the work is fully now in full effect. Construction is happening at a fast pace. This is going to be an incredible stadium. We're very excited about what we're doing in New York, what we're doing for that community in terms of a proper football stadium, with a team that now is closing in on 10 years. 'It's been a great journey. And they've earned (it). They deserve a stadium, and finally, they're going to get it. And we have now a line of sight of when it's going to be finished and it'll be transformative for football fans in New York, for our fan base, and really at a time where football is booming in America.' On City Football Group… 'It's developed very well. We look at City Football Group as a group, but then each team individually and each team gets the attention it requires and gets a lot of attention from the whole leadership team. 'There's individuality with each club. Depending on where they are around the world, each one has its own requirements. But overall, one of the things that gives us confidence is how many similar models now are following our CFG model. 'There are a lot of other groups now that are pursuing what we have built at City Football Group, which tells you there's an appreciation that this is a good model and it's a model that's effective.'
The National
4 days ago
- Business
- The National
Man City excited to defend Fifa Club World Cup title, says Khaldoon Al Mubarak
Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Manchester City are excited to defend their Fifa Club World Cup title next month, and that he would comment on a Premier League ruling on the club once it has been delivered. In the second part of his end-of-season review, the City chairman covered a wide-range of issues from ticket prices, the overall performance of the City Football Group and plans to build more City Football Academies. An issue on many people's minds has been the allegations, brought by the Premier League, that City broke more than 100 financial fair play rules over a nine-year period, between 2009 and 2018. They have also been charged with failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations into their finances. City deny all charges. According to Premier League rules, any punishment could be a points deduction or even the threat of expulsion from the division. When asked about the charges, Al Mubarak said: 'Well, I suppose the only thing I can say is we still don't have a ruling. Once there's a ruling, I'll be able to speak about it. Until then we just have to be patient, and it'll come, and we will talk about it, I promise you, once we have the ruling.' Given their dominance over previous years, City suffered a disappointing season by their high standards, finishing third in the Premier League, 13 points behind champions Liverpool. City ended the European and domestic season without a trophy – the first time since manager Pep Guardiola's first season in charge in 2016/17. The club will get the chance to rectify that this summer when they take part in the expanded 32-team Fifa Club World Cup from June 14 to July 13. City will enter as the defending champions having won the tournament the last time it was held, in 2023, a year that saw the club win five trophies. 'As the defending champions coming into this new format, of course we're very excited. We're very excited to come in as champions," Al Mubarak told the club's media channels. The expanded tournament will see eight groups of four battle it out before progressing to the knockout stages. City are in Group G alongside Italian giants Juventus, Morocco's Wydad, and UAE representatives Al Ain. "The format actually, I really like it. This is a very, very serious competition. In the summer, the whole world will be watching this. A big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament and I can assure you, we're going to give it our best shot. We're going there to win it." Supporters staged several protests this season, upset that, despite the expansion of the Etihad Stadium by 9,000 seats, there are fewer season tickets than six years ago. Another grievance are claims by some supporters groups that tickets are sold through third-party sites for inflated prices. Al Mubarak said he sympathised with those supporters, saying he was "not OK with the way it played out". He said the club were working with the City Matters group to address and understand the issues. These conversations with City Matters and our fans will continue, and we will try to find solutions always to address some of the challenges in a way that is fair for everyone Khaldoon Al Mubarak 'What I'm sure about and I hope this message comes out loud and clear, is that relationship of trust between the fans and the club is the foundation of the success and sustainability of this club. And we know that, and we appreciate that deeply. "These conversations with City Matters and our fans will continue, and we will try to find solutions always to address some of the challenges in a way that is fair for everyone.' The chairman said he was pleased with the overall performance of teams under the City Football Group, citing Brazilian club Bahia, who have gone from the second division to playing in the Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League, and Melbourne City, who have reached the men's Grand Final in Australia, while the women's team reached the Women's AFC Champions League final. Al Mubarak said plans for new academies were also in the works. 'We have a very clear view on what model works. The model that has worked for City Football Group in terms of investing in clubs all around the world is also investing in academies ... [building] connectivity between the first team, the professional team, and the academy. To conclude, the academy component of any team we invest in is fundamental." Watch: Part 1 of Khaldoon Al Mubarak's end-of-season review
Washington Post
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Guardiola raises the prospect of Grealish leaving Man City
LONDON — Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola raised the prospect of Jack Grealish leaving the club in the offseason after the winger was omitted from the squad for the last game of the Premier League season. Grealish, City's record signing at $139 million, did not travel to London for the match against Fulham which City won 2-0 to qualify for the Champions League.
