Good evening, Manchester City fans. Here are your evening headlines for Tuesday, September 1.
Garcia breaks City silence on Messi transfer situation
Eric Garcia said, smiling, that Manchester City’s players have not talked about Lionel Messi potentially joining the club this summer.
Messi has spent the entirety of his career at Barcelona but is now entertaining the prospect of leaving the club. His decision comes after a disappointing season that saw the Catalan giants crash out of the Champions League after an 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.
Garcia was speaking while on national team duty for Spain after earning his first call-up with his country’s senior side.
“We have not spoken at City about Messi coming,” he said before adding: “Everyone would like to have Messi on their team.”
The defender may be on his way out of the club after informing City he will not be extending his current deal, which expires in 12 months.
That has seen speculation surface suggesting Garcia could be part of an agreement to bring Messi to Manchester.
Sancho continues to inspire City youngsters
Lewis Fiorini has revealed the Manchester City academy graduates that are serving as an inspiration to the current generation.
Fiorini, 18, has completed a loan move to NAC Breda to gain first-team experience in the Netherlands, and the Scot has revealed the encouragement he takes from those that have already emerged from City’s academy set-up.
“Without playing games I felt like I learned so much. I could feel myself getting better with the players around me,” he told Not the Old Firm.
“Guys like Phil Foden and Eric Garcia are an inspiration. Phil’s been at City as long as I can remember and in my team we’ve watched him grow from a little boy to a regular member of the senior team.
“That’s the motivation right in front of you. The same for Eric, he came in a bit later, but we’ve watched him progress and play a lot of games over the last season. Phil’s been called into the England squad so he’s done so well.
“He’s had times where he hasn’t played as much as he’s wanted to and seen lads like Jadon Sancho move away and play, Phil’s had to be patient. But with David Silva leaving, he should have a great chance to play most weeks. I didn’t play with Sancho but I trained with him a few times.”
Fiorini added: "He (Sancho) was two years older but was in Phil’s age group. When they were 17 they were both in the first-team system, but one chose to go down one path and one chose the other. But they’ve both done very well.”
Aguero gives City early lift for the new season
Sergio Aguero has returned to Manchester City training after recovering from a knee problem that hindered his 2019/20 season.
And Simon Bajkowski has written about the striker’s position at the club, how the summer transfer window could impact his status, and what this means for the club’s future.
You can read that piece here.
