Blues to take on the world in record numbers!
CITY are on course to beat the record they set four years ago for the most players from a single club at a World Cup.
Pep Guardiola saw a whopping 16 members of his squad head off to Russia in 2018, losing virtually his entire first-team group for a big chunk of pre-season. That tally was the highest collection of players from a club the tournament has ever seen, a number matched by Real Madrid in the same year. City initially had 17 before Leroy Sane was dropped from Germany’s provisional squad.
The Blues do not have big squads under Guardiola but each player carries an abundance of talent, experience, or both. And despite Oleksandr Zinchenko’s heartbreak with Ukraine as they saw their World Cup dreams ended by Wales on Sunday, the squad at the Etihad are still on course to better the marker set back in 2018.
Other than Zinchenko, the only members of the squad who definitely will not be going to Qatar at the end of the year are Riyad Mahrez and Erling Haaland – Algeria and Norway were knocked out in their qualifiers.
Beyond that (and Scott Carson), there are many who are almost certain to be travelling.
Ederson will be heading there with Brazil, renewing his rivalry with Liverpool stopper Alisson for the No.1 position.
And while he has struggled with form and fitness over the last year, it would still be a shock for Zack Steffen not to be picked by his former club coach Gregg Berhalter for USA, who are in the same group as England. Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo will travel with Portugal, Nathan Ake with Netherlands, Aymeric Laporte with Spain, and John Stones and Kyle Walker with England.
Walker could be said to be the least safe of those options, although he appears to have regained the confidence of Gareth Southgate and
Guardiola may not be thrilled by losing virtually all of his players in one go in the middle of the season
his versatility helps in the battle to stand out among the many rightbacks.
Jack Grealish is another whose England future appears secure despite a challenging first year at the Etihad, while Phil Foden is also too good to be left out.
Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan have shown this season they are four of the best players in the Premier League and would be sorely disappointed not to be picked for their national teams.
In attack, new signing Julian Alvarez has worked his way into the Argentina squad and has been told he will be given minutes in Manchester in the first half of the season.
Raheem Sterling will travel with England, while Gabriel Jesus – providing he stays at City – will hope he has done enough to make it with Brazil.
That takes the number up to 17, eclipsing the club’s record from four years ago and setting a formidable challenge for any other squad in world football.
Guardiola may not be thrilled by losing virtually all of his players in one go in what will be the middle of the season in November and December, but it would be an undeniably impressive feat.
Of course, the summer transfer window could alter it. Jesus is expected to leave, while Sterling could also decide to head for a new challenge elsewhere, which would knock the numbers down.
However, the City chairman has already confirmed that more than one new signing is expected through the door after Haaland and Alvarez, and given the profile the club look for in the market, it is very likely the new arrivals would also be heading for Qatar. It won’t influence their transfer policy, but barring injuries or shocks, City are on course to eclipse their own record.