Bolstered by a £100 million ($135 million) spending spree ahead of the Club World Cup, Manchester City are determined to erase the memory of a disappointing season by returning to winning ways in the United States.
For the first time in eight years, City ended the domestic campaign without a major trophy as Pep Guardiola’s men surrendered the Premier League crown to Liverpool after an unprecedented four consecutive titles.
A Champions League exit before the last 16 for the first time since 2012/13 and a shock FA Cup final defeat against Crystal Palace compounded a miserable season for a club that has grown used to success since an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover 17 years ago.
At one time the month-long expanded Club World Cup, sandwiched between two gruelling seasons, was the last thing Guardiola or his players appeared to want.
Ballon d’Or winner Rodri hinted back in September that a players’ strike was “close” over fixture congestion.
Defender Manuel Akanji more recently said the City squad was “not exactly overjoyed” at playing in the tournament given the limited rest time.
However, City are keen to turn the page from last season and begin afresh with major changes in the squad and coaching staff.
Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli were all signed last week to beat the deadline to feature in the Club World Cup from the start.
City also spent more than £172 million in January on Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez.
Adding Claudio Echeverri, who arrived in Manchester in January at the end of a loan spell at River Plate, nine of Guardiola’s 27-man squad for the tournament have been at City for less than six months.
Former City captain Kyle Walker and club record signing Jack Grealish have been left out of the travelling party in a changing of the guard.
Meanwhile, Guardiola has also made radical changes to his staff with Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant at Liverpool, and ex-City defender Kolo Toure joining the backroom team and three other coaches departing.
“This is a very, very serious competition,” said Guardiola. “In the summer, the whole world will be watching this.
“A big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament and I can assure you, we’re going to give it our best shot. We’re going there to win it.”
City begin the tournament as third favourites in the British bookmakers odds behind newly-crowned European champions Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.
They should ease through a group containing Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca, Al Ain of Abu Dhabi and Italian giants Juventus.
Yet there is an air of mystery around what to expect from City given the fresh faces and their inconsistency over the last season.
After a miserable mid-winter run of one win in 13 games in all competitions, Guardiola’s side recovered to an extent as they finished third in the Premier League.
The additions of Reijnders and Cherki add some much-needed verve to an ageing midfield and compensate for the departure of Kevin De Bruyne to Napoli.
Ait-Nouri’s arrival ends a long spell without a natural left-back and will add an extra attacking dimension down that side.
Most crucially of all, though, Rodri is back from the cruciate knee ligament injury that decimated his and City’s season.
When the Spanish midfielder went down against Arsenal in late September, City were still undefeated and top of the Premier League.
His importance as the key cog in Guardiola’s machine was brutally exposed in the months that followed.
The 28-year-old made his return in the final week of the Premier League season.
With Rodri restored and Guardiola’s squad refreshed, City could be a force to be reckoned with again over the next month.
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