Man City facing pre-season with only nine first team players

straight to your inboxThe home dressing room of the stadium at Manchester City's football academy was not a happy place on Saturday afternoon.Two goals from James McAtee and one from Liam Delap had the Under-23 side 3-1 up in their Premier League 2 opener against Derby with 20 minutes to go.

straight to your inboxHere are your Manchester City morning headlines for Sunday, 13 September.

straight to your inboxKevin De Bruyne has warned that players may need to speak up and take time off when they feel they need to during the next season amid concerns of burnout.The English football calendar is one of the busiest, and Manchester City have in recent seasons gone many months into the campaign gunning for four competitions with Pep Guardiola needing to manage his squad in order to avoid injuries or fatigue.

straight to your inboxGood evening, Manchester City fans.

straight to your inbox Benjani Mwaruwari has explained what it was like to become an 'instant hero' for Manchester City after scoring on his debut against Manchester United. Before Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan took over the club a matter of months later, City completed the then big-money signing of Benjani for £4.68million in January 2008, after he had impressed in his first stint at Premier League rivals Portsmouth.

straight to your inbox Sergio Aguero was literally sidelined at the back end of the last season, with a knee problem keeping him out of the final straight in the Premier League and Champions League. His absence was brushed over while Gabriel Jesus was leading by example against Real Madrid, and before the Argentine could prove his fitness Manchester City managed to self-destruct in the quarter-final against Lyon.

straight to your inboxGood evening, Manchester City fans. Here are your evening headlines for Monday, August 31.

straight to your inboxManchester City defender Yan Couto has finally arrived in England after signing from Coritiba earlier this year.Couto, 18, was signed for an initial €6m but spent the remainder of last season back on loan at Coritiba. However, the global pandemic delayed his arrival in Manchester.Couto has previously spoken about choosing City over Barcelona, and how a conversation with Pep Guardiola persuaded him to choose a move to the Etihad.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola is set to quarantine for a fortnight before returning to Manchester City ahead of the new Premier League season. The coach has been in his native Barcelona for a break, with some fans hoping that his presence there is another sign that means Lionel Messi could actually be on his way to the Etihad.

straight to your inbox A football agent who helped to take Lionel Messi to Barcelona claims it is “90 per cent” sure that the player will stay at the Nou Camp. Manchester City are awaiting the outcome of the player's attempts to extricate himself from the club, which will hit a crucial phase in the next 48 hours.

straight to your inbox England and Manchester City captain Steph Houghton has joined fellow Lionesses Anita Asante and Danielle Carter to call on players to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement when the Women’s Super League season kicks off next weekend. Houghton revealed that teams have been taking a knee in their pre-season friendlies, and added that she expected it to continue in Saturday’s Women’s Community Shield match against Chelsea at Wembley.

straight to your inbox Lionel Messi’s advisers have used the name of Manchester City as leverage several times down the years. As the club that has always been touted – and has seen itself – as head of the queue should the Argentina superstar ever leave the Nou Camp, the Blues have always been a natural bargaining chip whenever he wanted a new contract, or to exert some other form of influence.

straight to your inboxManchester City are the odds-on favourite to be Lionel Messi's next club.The bombshell dropped on Tuesday night that Messi has told Barcelona that he wants to leave the club after 16 glorious years.The announcement comes just 11 days following Barca's humiliating 8-2 demolition at the hands of Bayern Munich to send them crashing out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage and amid growing frustrations with the club's board and president Josep Maria Bartomeu.It's

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola is just as disappointed at Manchester City's season as the chairman is, according to Khaldoon Al Mubarak. The Catalan coach revealed ahead of the Champions League knockouts that Al Mubarak was not happy with him over the way Liverpool had run away with the Premier League title, and the chairman did not suggest otherwise when given the opportunity to counter that claim.

straight to your inboxThe announcement of Gareth Southgate’s England squad this week could put into focus the most important decision of John Stones’ career.A poor season has left the 26-year-old as Manchester City’s fifth-choice centre-back with Nathan Ake signed from Bournemouth this summer and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly also on the club’s radar.If Stones misses out on a place with the Three Lions, it will mean he has been omitted from four of the last six national team squads.