Shiny shoes, golf and an army of a Blue entourage... CITY IN Tour Diary

AT first, we thought Joe Hart had simply forgotten his trainers, and had been forced to wear a pair of suit shoes.

The we realised that the entire City squad was dressed the same – shorts, long socks and shiny footwear.

Now we M.E.N. sports journos are not exactly fashionistas, but it is a terrible look, a bit like your dad on holiday.

Turns out it is all part of the club’s hook-up with its official fashion partner dsquared2 – which was also behind the bomber jackets and fitted jeans of last season.

City’s game in Chicago has been a low-key affair – a crowd of 35,000 watched them lose to Borussia Dortmnd at Soldier Field, and from our viewpoint there seemed to be about half-and-half supporters of the two clubs.

The coverage has been scant – picking up the Chicago Tribune the morning after the match, the only mention was a picture of the Dortmund players celebrating their goal, with a short caption.

ARSENE WENGER IS NOW PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY, BUT THE SNIPERS JUST WON’T LEAVE THE POOR MAN ALONE.

After suffering all kinds of abuse for sticking around at Arsenal for too long, we thought it was all over when he finally took the hint and quit.

But the cameras at last night’s game zoomed in one fan, for no apparent reason, holding up a placard with ‘Wenger Out’ written on it. Perhaps news travels slowly to Illinois! The tabloid Chicago Sun-Times newspaper bills itself as the ‘hardest working newspaper in the world’.

They were hard at work before the game, finding American City fans to give their views.

Blues supporters had travelled from all over the States for the game, and for Chicago Blues it made a nice change to previous years, when they have had to board flights to other destinations to watch their team.

“We’re City fans, and having City come to Chicago is pretty exciting,” City fan Johnny Hernandez told the Sun-Times.

“Normally, we have to travel to Miami or New York, and I know we had to come to Houston a couple years ago.

“They’re coming to Chicago. I’m pretty stoked about it.”

CITY’S STAFF SEEM TO MULTIPLY YEAR ON YEAR.

The difference between the size of the Dortmund travelling party and the support behind the Blues was huge.

The Germans seemed to have the playing squad and immediate staff, plus a press officer and a few officials.

City seem to have their own army of backroom staff and officials, and have also hooked up with US-based employees, such as the woman who looks after social media for them Stateside.

SO WHAT HAS PEP GUARDIOLA BEEN DOING IN HIS DOWNTIME WHILE IN THE STATES?

Why, indulging in his other passion, by watching The Open.

He was asked about that in his post-match press conference, and was more animated about the little white ball than he was about City’s defeat.

He revealed he had texted Southport golfer, Tommy Fleetwood, an occasional golfing partner and now a friend, to wish him well.