Taking a keen interest now in Chelsea and Manchester City – Who’d have thought it | OneFootball

As a Newcastle United fan, I can’t say I take much interest in Manchester City or Chelsea, except when we play them.

However, last season, those two became part of a group of five clubs, that also included Newcastle United, fighting for the remaining three Champions League places.

The final few rounds of Premier League matches sorted it, the five clubs separated by only five points, with Man City third, Chelsea in fourth, then Newcastle United in fifth. The three who made it into the Champions League with Villa and Forest just missing out.

So as much as I want to say I take no interest in Chelsea or Manchester City, I suppose in reality I do now. As these proved to be rival clubs Newcastle competed with last season AND very likely the same once the 2025/26 season kicks off.

When that’s the case, you look for every small, hopefully large, factor that will improve Newcastle’s prospects.

This is why I am taking an interest in the FIFA Club World Cup. No, I haven’t lost my head, I still have no interest whatsoever in watching this farce of a tournament, but I am interested to see what happens with Chelsea and Manchester City.

The dream scenario is that both of the Premier League clubs make it to the final.

Nobody cares who wins this tournament, the same with the previous years when fewer clubs took part. Put it this way, who won the last one? I bet you didn’t know the answer, a case of guessing.

This summer’s FIFA Club World Cup with loads more teams in it, is simply about money, not glory.

Manchester City and Chelsea are going to make a lot of cash BUT at what cost?

The final of the FIFA Club World Cup is on Sunday 13 July 2025, 34 days before Manchester City play away at Wolves in their opening Premier League match, 35 days before Chelsea are home to Palace in their first PL game.

Manchester City asked the Premier League to postpone their opening couple of league matches but they refused, not sure whether Chelsea even bothered but they would have got the same answer. The schedule, as we are all constantly reminded, is crowded enough as it is, without adding extra matches to fit in at a later date.

Which brings me back to Manchester City and Chelsea at this current Club World Cup. Pep Guardiola is very worried about the state of his players for the new Premier League season (and the other 2025/26 competitions).

Basically, the 2024/25 Premier League season ended, then all the top players pretty much immediately headed off to play for their countries in the June matches, then went straight from there to this Club World Cup.

As I said, the final is on Sunday 13 July but even if Chelsea and/or Manchester City get to the semi-finals, they are on Tuesday 8 June and Wednesday 9 June.

Manchester City are already through to the knockout stages, after beating the mighty Al Ain 6-0 on Sunday.

Chelsea will join them if defeating Esperance de Tunis on Tuesday.

With so many poor/lower quality teams in this tournament, every chance that both Manchester City and Chelsea will still be around in the later stages of this FIFA Club World Cup.

Music to my ears.

You might say they are highly paid athletes and should be able to play whenever. However, the point is, no sportsmen or sportswomen can be in a state of permanent optimum training and fitness.

By the time they are finished this tournament, the Chelsea and Manchester City players will have been pretty much playing a full 11 months of football, be allowed probably three weeks off on holiday at the most, then only a couple of weeks preparation for 2025/26 and then straight back into an endless grind of Premier League, international football, Champions League, as well as domestic cup competitions.

I struggle to see how the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea will be anywhere near their best at the start of the 2025/26 season and for sure I will be looking to bet against them in their early games. More than that though, I think we could well see loads more injuries, fatigue, jaded players, across the entire 2025/26 season, at many of the clubs that competed at this summer’s club world cup.

The thing is though, that in the other European leagues, they are weaker, far weaker in some cases, than the Premier League. Especially in the case of say Ligue 1, PSG can afford to rest players when they want for league matches, in the Premier League though there is no such thing as a guaranteed easy win.

With the Chelsea and Manchester City players, even if they aren’t playing a lot in this FIFA Club World Cup, they are still in full training every day in case needed. They aren’t having a rest, even if not playing

My prediction is that no matter what FIFA and the clubs want, we won’t see this ridiculous 32 club farce repeated. I think the players will say enough is enough, especially if/when we see so many more injuries and knackered players, especially if then it affects participation and performance in the 2026 World Cup, the proper one!

I actually think that all of these problems could have been avoided, certainly for Chelsea, Manchester City and other European clubs taking part in this tournament, if the FIFA Club World Cup had kicked off a month later.

I think that if after the early June internationals, all the top players had been able to have a month off to switch off, spend time with family and friends, then it would have been a different scenario.

The club world cup could have been used as their pre-season, effectively replacing their schedule of friendlies. before hitting the 2025/26 season.

I always remember back in summer 2001, Newcastle United started their ‘competitive’ matches on 14 July 2001, United beat Lokeren 4-0 and went on to play six matches in total in that summer’s Intertoto competition. A competition that was less farcical than this FIFA Club World Cup!

Sir Bobby Robson and his team used that Intertoto as their pre-season preparation.

When we got to Christmas 2001, Newcastle United were top of the Premier League. Then even though a bit of a fall-off in the second-half of the season, Newcastle still finished fourth and got 71 points, the highest total United have ever got since 1995/96 (78 points), Eddie Howe’s side equalling that 71 points total in 2022/23.

With Chelsea and Manchester City, my guess is that their participation in this summer’s tournament will impact on next season and cost them an unknown loss of a number of extra PL points. Here’s hoping Newcastle United can take advantage.