Manchester City have asked the Premier League to postpone their start to next season, with an expanded Club World Cup leaving them with the prospect of just one week to prepare for the 2025-26 campaign.
 
City’s participation in the tournament could see their season end on July 13 should they make the final of the newly expanded competition in America.

The club have not received an official reply from Premier League chiefs but are expecting it to be turned down after initial soundings. It means Pep Guardiola’s team have a month between seasons and three weeks of those will be holidays for players under the terms of their contracts.

Guardiola does not expect the FIFA tournament to impact the fitness management of players in the current extended season but believes there will be consequences. Fixtures have yet to be released for next season but City started the current campaign on August 10 with the Community Shield.

“In this month or three weeks and after the holidays, the Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery,” said Guardiola. “Absolutely not allowed. Premier League say yes to us? No, absolutely not.

“Thank you so much! They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of… ‘oh, what do we do?’ I don’t have an answer right now because I’ve not been there before. I think we are going to take a decision with common sense. We will see how the players are, the schedule, then we are going to decide.”

When asked if players could be exhausted by the time they get to America, Guardiola added: “Yes. It’s going to happen for sure. It depends if we’re in the last stages of the FA Cup. I don’t know if we will play more games than the Treble year before the States. Maybe we’ll play less games.”

‘I will decide which players to play’

FIFA are expecting clubs to take their strongest squads and field their best teams for the 32-team tournament, although Guardiola has hit back at the suggestion the world governing body can decide which teams are playing at full tilt.

“What is the strongest players? Which ones? If you tell me which players are stronger than the other ones? I don’t understand,” he said. “We go [with] all the squad there, we don’t go for one game.

“Maybe the strongest player for them is in a bad condition for many reasons – professional, personal, injuries. I’m not going to say before the game which player to play. I will decide.”

Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne has asked to miss the next Belgium camps but has given no indication yet on retiring from international football.

De Bruyne is sidelined with a pelvis injury and has asked for time off during the October and November fixtures for his country, after he put his future in doubt during the last break.

He criticised Belgium’s tactics after their defeat to France and footage emerged of his frustration during a talk with technical director Frank Vercauteren, with newspaper HLN translating his comments as: “I quit. I quit.”

Guardiola has welcomed De Bruyne’s decision to focus on his recovery. “How can he go when he didn’t play one game?” Guardiola said. “I never understood that. He cannot play with us, cannot play with Belgium.

“He didn’t say to me he’s going to retire from Belgium. He didn’t say that to me, but I don’t know Kevin’s mind. For that game is injured so is not available.”

Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco confirmed De Bruyne has requested to miss November’s matches against Italy and Israel in addition to October’s games.

“I had a long phone conversation with Kevin,” said Tedesco. “He has asked to skip this camp and also November to be able to take care of his body. The schedule has become even busier due to the World Cup for clubs. That is why he is not there now and in November. But when it really counts – the World Cup – he will be there.”

Tedesco insists De Bruyne remains committed to playing for his country. “He has an injury, but he is very motivated to continue with the Red Devils and to play the World Cup in 2026,” Tedesco added, ahead of matches against Italy and France.