Pep Guardiola set to invite Ivorian defender on trial for Manchester City’s pre-season | OneFootball

Manchester City could see Troyes defender Junior Diaz fly to England to trial with Pep Guardiola’s squad when the first-team report back for pre-season at the end of the month, as per a new report.

Guardiola’s side have been given four weeks off after their FIFA Club World Cup commitments in the United States, with City facing elimination in the Round of 16 after succumbing to a thrilling 4-3 defeat at the hands of Al-Hilal earlier this week.

City are aiming to reclaim the Premier League title next term after a disappointing third-place finish with 71 points – their lowest points total posted since Guardiola took over from Manuel Pellegrini in the summer of 2016.

The Manchester City board have laid down an early marker in the transfer market with a series of notable acquisitions to give Guardiola and co a much-needed injection of fresh blood as it remains to be seen how the likes of Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri embed into the first-team next season.

After a strong start to the transfer window, City are set to shift their focus on trimming their bloated first-team squad between now and the beginning of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign in August.

Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker are all expected to find new clubs as the window progresses, with centre-half also another area that needs addressing as John Stones enters the final year of his current Manchester City deal.

Stones, like Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji, endured an injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign that has raised doubts over whether Guardiola continues to hold trust in one of his first signings at the Etihad Stadium.

Following the signings of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis in January, there is a general acceptance that centre-half is the most likely area of the Manchester City squad that will witness trimming as newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana conducts a thorough audit of Guardiola’s current crop of options.

Foot Mercato are reporting that Manchester City could well invite Troyes centre-half Junior Diaz on trial with Guardiola’s first-team squad in the near future, which could intertwine with a change of guard in central defence at the Etihad Stadium.

Diaz, 22, would represent another young prospect to be phased into the first-team as Viana and co mull on the future(s) of the likes of Ake, Akanji and Stones – all of whom have been linked with possible exits between now and when the transfer window shuts in September.

Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias formed a solid partnership at centre-back in the closing months of the recent campaign. With the arrival of Ait-Nouri from Wolves, Gvardiol and Dias are expected to retain their positions at the heart of City’s backline.

Stones has been linked with a move to Everton as he enters the last year of his deal, though City could take a leaf from their Kevin De Bruyne book and allow the England international to enter the final 12 months of his contract and assess his contract situation as the season progresses.