Pep Guardiola sends crucial Club World Cup message to Manchester City squad | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has laid down the importance of the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup campaign ahead of next week’s opening fixture against Wydad AC.

City are representing the Premier League – alongside Chelsea – in the 32-club tournament that will be held from mid-June to mid-July and give Guardiola and co a timely opportunity to embed their new signings in and add to their silverware cabinet.

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki have all flown out to the United States to play at the Club World Cup after completing their respective transfers to Manchester City in the 10-day June transfer window that shut on Tuesday.

Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are all expected to find new clubs ahead of the new season after being left out of the Club World Cup squad as Manchester City look to challenge on all fronts next term after a sub-standard 2024-25 campaign.

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak outlined that the club are determined to win the Club World Cup and lay down an early marker to their rivals that one off-season will not deter a side that have been so successful under Guardiola from returning to their imperious selves.

With four new signings at his disposal for the tournament, Guardiola will know Manchester City are huge favourites to win the competition, which will also feature Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

City have gotten a large chunk of their transfer business out of the way in time for the tournament and possible outgoings are expected to dominate the headlines between now and when the transfer window reopens next month – following the conclusion of the Club World Cup.

Guardiola has always wanted his new signings in through the door at the earliest in the summer and the 54-year-old will be delighted with the intent Manchester City officials have shown in the early stages of the window.

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s opener against Wydad AC next week, Guardiola said: “This (the Club World Cup) is a very, very serious competition,” as quoted by The Independent.

“In the summer, the whole world will be watching this. A big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament and I can assure you, we’re going to give it our best shot. We’re going there to win it.

“It’s an honour. It means in the last seasons we have done really well. It’s a new competition for us and I’m looking forward to it.”

More importantly, the tournament will give Guardiola a chance to assess the hunger in his squad to prove their doubters wrong and challenge for all major trophies next season after failing to mount a challenge for the Premier League and UEFA Champions League titles next term.