Man City could be missing up to seven players for next weekend’s Community Shield against Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola’s men face Liverpool at Wembley, but some of their key stars might not be match fit.
Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho and Ederson won the Copa America trophy with Brazil, while Nicolas Otamendi and Sergio Aguero won bronze medals for Argentina. All five only return to training this week and are not expected to be match fit, according to the MEN.
Riyad Mahrez returns even later, having helped Algeria beat Sadio Mane’s Senegal in the final of AFCON.
Benjamin Mendy is injured and is recovering from knee surgery. The left-back is not expected to resume training until later in August.
Liverpool could actually be in a similar position, with the club only confirming today that Alisson, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah will report for pre-season training on Monday.
The Reds have one more friendly on Wednesday against French outfit Lyon, and if selected that could be the trio's only warm-up game ahead of the curtain raiser at Wembley.
Mane will definitely miss the game as he won't report back until after the Community Shield.
