Pep to quarantine after Spain break

PEP Guardiola is set to quarantine for a fortnight before returning to 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.

With all arrivals from Spain being forced to quarantine for two weeks according to the current UK government regulations, Guardiola will not be expected at the training ground this week to lead pre-season training.

However, the club are not concerned about this. All of the squad were allowed to go wherever they wanted in their time off between the end of one campaign and the start of the next and

City miss the opening weekend of Premier League fixtures after their Champions League exertions.

In addition, while there will be some players reporting for duty this week the upcoming international matches mean that the majority of their players will be away for the majority of the next two weeks anyway.

When Guardiola does return to the City Football Academy, there will still be more than a week before they head to Molineux to face Wolves in a game that has been pushed back to a Monday night.

The Blues are still hoping to add Messi and Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly to their squad before the transfer window closes, having already added defender Nathan Ake from Bournemouth and winger Ferran Torres from Valencia.