'It's a joke' - Man City warned over taking new signings to Club World Cup
Manchester City are preparing for the Club World Cup but not everyone is keen on the tournament ahead of its relaunch
It's safe to say there are some mixed messages from the Manchester City camp ahead of the Club World Cup. Plenty have spoken to the tournament's official broadcaster about the competitions and, unsurprisingly, are full of praise for it.
But then you have centre-back Manu Akanji, who broke ranks to say that he didn't like it and that many of his teammates felt the same way. "We players would love to have some holidays, and some time for our bodies to rest," he added.
One City star who may feel similar is Rodri, who spent his last media appearance before he suffered a season-ending injury to say that footballers may have to go on striker to make a point about too many games in the calendar. The Spaniard will want to continue his recovery from his ACL, yet at the same time City would rather not risk anything ahead of next season.
City manager Pep Guardiola has straddled both sides of the divide in the many times he has been asked about it. There has been a certainty that it is a competition they want to do well in, but at the same time he has suggested there will still be a feel of pre-season and that players who haven't featured as much this season could be used in the tournament.
The Blues are expected to take a strong squad to the United States when they fly next week, with new signings Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait Nouri and Rayan Cherki all on the plane providing there are no late hiccups with those deals. All three have been on international duty, which has added to the time taken to complete the transfers.
Former City goalkeeper David James does not believe they or any of the first team should be going though. James, a regular on City's in-house media channel considers it a risk too far for players that are already in danger of burnout - especially when nobody knows how the tournament will play out.
“If I were Manchester City, I would declare my entire first team injured and send the youth team to the Club World Cup,” he told FourFourTwo. “I think it’s a joke.
"You’ve got the best players and the best teams in the world complaining about too many games, then you introduce this tournament.
“You’re trying to work out who benefits, especially when you look at some of the outfits in it, who – as far as I can consider – haven’t even got a world ranking of the stature to be involved with the best in the world.”
The FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 of the world's best club teams including Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich play across 63 games from June 14-July 13.
Fans can watch every match live and for free by signing up to DAZN.
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