Senior Manchester City duo train with club’s under-21 squad during international break | OneFootball

Two of Pep Guardiola’s most senior stars trained with Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad during the recent international break, a new report has revealed.

The Premier League champions return to their club duties this weekend with a meeting against Thomas Frank’s ever-dangerous Brentford side at the Etihad Stadium following the first international break of the new season.

Whilst almost all of Guardiola’s players emerged from their national team duties unscathed, the club have been hit by a serious problem concerning Nathan Ake, with the Dutchman stretchered off at the end of the first-half of their Nations League meeting with Germany.

As such, it has been vitally important for Manchester City to ensure that their fitness remains at the peak of its potential during the break, and two stars have taken matters into their own hands by training with the younger players whilst first-team stars remained absent.

As revealed by Manchester City’s new Elite Development Squad head coach Ben Wilkinson during a new interview with the Manchester Evening News, both Ilkay Gundogan and Kyle Walker trained with the under-21 roster during the international break to maintain fitness.

“We’ve had one or two of the first team training with us over the international break with 400-500 Premier League games, they’ve won everything,” Wilkinson explained.

“And they’re still training with these 17, 18, 19-year-olds and their attitude is the best in the session. That’s what makes them what they are.”

Wilkinson continued, “Kyle (Walker) trained a little bit, (Ilkay) Gundo a little bit, players who have been right at the top and still are. Their mentality and attitude was first class.

“They (academy players) obviously get the exposure when they go over there but it’s a little bit different when it’s the other way round. To see the players are still fiercely competitive, the desire to win, the standards.

“It’s one thing us telling them and repeating it to them for years. It’s a lot better when you can see the best players doing it every day, every action. The message is a lot more powerful in that moment.”

Both players will be looking to gain their first starts of the new season in the coming games, and with Manchester City’s fixture list intensifying with two games a week for the foreseeable future, Pep Guardiola will no doubt have to call upon all of his options.

Kyle Walker has largely been kept out of the squad by teenager right-back talent Rico Lewis in the Manchester City starting line-up, with the club’s star Academy graduate also being selected for international duty with England by Lee Carsley ahead of the veteran.

As for Gundogan, the German has appeared in vital substitutes appearances in his showings so far since returning from FC Barcelona in the summer market, operating in a natural central midfield role alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne.