Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones will NOT fly to Texas with the rest of the Man City squad for the pre-season tour… they will instead travel within Europe with the Under-23 squad while the Citizens prepare for a Premier League -Title prepare defense
- Gundogan, Foden, Laporte and Stones will be absent from Manchester City’s US tour
- City were scheduled to face Club America and Bayern Munich on the preseason tour
- Several Crystal Palace players have failed to meet Australia’s vaccination requirements
- Oleksandr Zinchenko will complete the move to Arsenal sports mail reported
Manchester City have key players Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones from the Americas leg of their pre-season preparations, Sportsmail can reveal.
It is understood that the players will not travel with Pep Guardiola’s squad to the United States where they meet Club America Texas on the Wednesday before the game Bayern Munich in Green Bay on Saturday.
Instead, Gundogan, Foden and Stones are to fly with City’s U23 players to another destination in Europe to continue their pre-season programme. It is not yet known if Laporte will join them.
Premier League champions Manchester City will miss four key players on the pre-season tour
Centre-back Aymeric Laporte, 28, will be one of City’s absent players
No reasons were given as to why players are not traveling.
City are not the only club whose preparations have been hampered by missing players.
Crystal Palace have only taken 10 outfield players on their Singapore and Australia tours because some failed to meet ‘entry requirements’.
Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace could miss out on commercial bonuses due to vaccination delays
N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were forced to miss Chelsea’s tour of the Americas due to their Covid vaccination status.
Meanwhile, Oleksandr Zinchenko will complete a transfer to Arsenal – a move announced by Sportsmail in May.
Zinchenko was initially unwilling to leave City but is likely to end his six-year tenure at the club and reunite with striker Gabriel Jesus – who sealed a £45million move to the Emirates earlier this summer.
Ukraine international Zinchenko, 25, is hoping for more playing time after playing just 15 Premier League games last season. Sportsmail showed Arsenal’s interest in May and he is valued at around £35m by City. The two clubs turn down a deal.
N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek missed Chelsea’s US tour due to vaccination status
Germany’s star midfielder Ilkay Gündogan is one of four players missing from the US tour
Mikel Arteta is keen on Zinchenko – capable of playing at left-back and midfield – for added versatility within the squad.
The couple had a close relationship when Arteta was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at City. Fellow defender Nathan Ake was also ready to leave the Etihad but Chelsea would not meet the around £45million valuation.
City are keen to land Marc Cucurella despite Brighton estimating the full back at £50m.
Arsenal will speed up their attempts to tie Bukayo Saka to a new contract as City see him as an ideal replacement for Raheem Sterling.
Arsenal will step up their efforts to tie Bukayo Saka to a new long-term deal
Manchester City see Arsenal’s Saka (right) as the ideal replacement for Raheem Sterling (left)
City have identified England winger Saka as their long-term No 1 target to take Sterling’s place in Guardiola’s squad.
City’s interest complicates the Gunners’ attempts to re-sign Saka.
The 20-year-old has less than two years left on his contract and talks are underway for a long-term extension.
Arsenal remain highly unlikely to consider selling Saka as Arteta sees him as crucial to their plans.
Riyad Mahrez has signed a two-year extension with City, extending his contract until 2025.
Key players Phil Foden and John Stones will also join the Under-23s at Euro
