Manchester City receive a double fitness boost before facing Brentford in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola has had a positive international break so far, primarily wishing that his players return injury-free. Although he would prefer they not play during the break, he understands the importance of international duty. Despite some potentially contentious remarks from Spain’s manager Luis de la Fuente, Guardiola remains untroubled.
Two City players who missed the victory over West Ham have withdrawn from international play—Phil Foden due to ongoing illness and Savinho due to an unexpected minor issue. Savinho has since exited the Brazil squad, but City and Guardiola are hopeful for his return after the international fixtures. The winger recently shared a social media update from his gym in Manchester, indicating that his recovery is progressing as expected. City will be optimistic about having him back in training this week.
In other news, Rodri made his season debut in Spain’s Nations League win against Switzerland, where De la Fuente disregarded City’s cautious approach to managing Rodri and started him in Geneva. Rodri played just under an hour, likely part of a planned substitution, especially after Spain went down to ten men early in the match. He now has six days to get ready for what could be his first game for City this season on Saturday.
City also hopes Foden will be fit for the Brentford match, although Oscar Bobb remains sidelined for the foreseeable future. Other City players including Erling Haaland, Akanji, Jack Grealish, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, James McAtee, Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, and Nathan Ake have also represented their countries.
Guardiola has stated, “I want all my English players to join the national team when they are fit, and the same goes for other nationalities. I dislike it when players are not fully fit but still go, though with the power of national teams, we have little say in the matter.”
