Philadelphia, June 17 (IANS) A new-look Manchester City make their Club World Cup debut against Moroccan side Wydad AC at the Lincoln Field Stadium in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. The Club World Cup has taken on an extra importance after Pep Guardiola’s side finished last season a disappointing third in the Premier League, went out of the Champions League early and ended the campaign with a defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.
As well as offering the chance of some redeeming silverware and an important payday, the Club World Cup gives Guardiola the chance to bed in new players ahead of next season in the Premier League, reports Xinhua.
City have acted quickly to start correcting last season’s failings with four signings, all of whom are eligible to play in the tournament. Left-back Rayan Ait Nouri, midfielder Tijani Reijnders, and forward Rayan Cherki should give more spark to the team, while goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli is an experienced back-up on the bench.
As well as hoping to see his new arrivals adapt to his style of play, with Ait Nouri hopefully balancing a side that seemed to spend much of last season without a specialised left-back, Guardiola will also be hoping that Rodri Hernandez can use the tournament to step up his recovery.
Rodri missed nearly all of last season with a cruciate knee ligament injury, playing a handful of minutes as the campaign drew to a close, and with Mateo Kovacic missing the tournament through injury, his return now would be a huge boost to the City midfield – and perhaps show what they have been missing.
Meanwhile, players such as Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov, who arrived in January, also need to step up.
Kevin de Bruyne is no longer with City after joining Napoli on a free transfer, while Jack Grealish has been left out of the squad and will presumably be on his way this summer, along with Kyle Walker, with the England right-back linked to Everton in the last few hours.
–IANS
bsk/