Sport

Club World Cup: A preview of Manchester City’s next era.

The Manchester City team that plays the club’s opening game at the 2025 Club World Cup could be very different to the one that finished the Premier League season. That was only a few weeks ago, but City have been busy. Their rebuild is well under way and Wednesday’s match against Wydad will be the first reveal of this process.

Rayan Cherki, Tijani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri have all made the switch to the Etihad Stadium. All three players are expected to feature at the Club World Cup with Pep Guardiola pointing City in the right direction again after a challenging 2024/25 campaign which saw his team underperform.

Ordinarily, Manchester City would have a number of pre-season games to road test their new signings. This summer, though, Guardiola and his players are at the Club World Cup in the USA where they have the opportunity to reassert themselves as a dominant force. City have more reason to want to win this tournament than most.

In Reijnders, Manchester City have signed a creative midfielder who could step into the shoes of Kevin De Bruyne. The Netherlands international was a standout performer for AC Milan last season and will give City creativity through the centre of the pitch and into the attacking third. Reijnders is ready-made to make an impact having already proved himself at a high level.

“City is one of the biggest clubs in the world and if you play for a club like this then you have to win prizes,” Reijnders said when asked about the task of playing at the Club World Cup. “It was almost a no-brainer when City came. An easy choice in the end. It’s important to play European football and playing for City is a dream.”

Ait-Nouri is another player who enjoyed a 2024/25 season, catching the eye for a Wolves team that spent much of the campaign fighting relegation from the Premier League. The Algerian international will give Manchester City the sort of wide threat they lacked in the full back positions last term. His signing fulfils a clear need in Guardiola’s squad.

Cherki is perhaps the most intriguing of Manchester City’s early-summer signings. He too impressed last season, finishing the Ligue 1 campaign with eight goals and 11 assists to his name. However, Cherki isn’t a typical Guardiola player in that he doesn’t offer a lot on the defensive side of the ball. He doesn’t close down or press from the front.

It might take some time for Cherki to truly adapt to Guardiola’s methods, but the 21-year-old is a natural creator and could make Manchester City a more entertaining team to watch. Cherki will be an important part of Guardiola’s next evolution as a coach. City’s rebuild is a work-in-progress, but the Frenchman’s arrival could accelerate the process.

City still have a lot of work to do in the transfer market before the end of the summer. They have some players to clear out of their squad. Jack Grealish clearly has no future at the Etihad Stadium and is being touted around Europe. The respective futures of Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Kyle Walker have also still to be resolved.

Not even Guardiola can be entirely sure what his team will produce at the Club World Cup with Manchester City’s rebuild only halfway complete. More business will be done this summer. The tournament, however, will offer some early evidence of what Guardiola’s next City side will look like. The Club World Cup will be a preview of the club’s next era.