Manchester City are back in the UK following their week-long tour of the United States, as they begin preparations for a Community Shield meeting with Liverpool on Saturday.
City's pre-season has been short but sweet this year - two matches yielded two wins as Pep Guardiola's side saw off Club America 2-1 in Houston before edging out Bayern Munich 1-0 in a storm-interrupted encounter in Green Bay on Saturday night.
The tour did not start off as Guardiola would have hoped; Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan were not able to travel as they did not meet US entry requirements, so instead flew to Croatia to join up with the under-23s squad. Aymeric Laporte stayed behind in Manchester to continue his recovery from injury.
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But what City fans and Guardiola saw over the two games will no doubt have stirred a healthy dose of optimism and excitement, as an energized, new-look City sparkled in attack while the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish shone. There was even an Erling Haaland debut goal to celebrate.
They and others stood out for the Blues, but for some the summer didn't go quite as planned. Here are the winners and losers from the tour.
Winners
Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne's pre-season preparations this summer are lightyears ahead of last year's, when he arrived to training with an ankle injury picked up at the European Championship.
After a summer of rest the Belgian midfielder already looks close to his top level, having scored two brilliant goals against Club America and starting the move that saw Haaland scored against Bayern Munich with a great through pass. He could reach new heights this season.
Jack Grealish
Grealish could barely have done more this summer to show Guardiola that he is ready to step up and play a greater role. As is often the case with new signings Grealish took a while to adapt to City's style and approach, but in pre-season he has looked sharp and much more direct than last season.
He was unfortunate not to score against Club America, but provided a well-worked assist for Haaland's goal against Bayern.
Julian Alvarez
City fans were disappointed not to see Haaland feature in Houston, but City's other new striker made up for his teammate's absence.
The 22-year-old Argentine fitted seamlessly into City's set-up, linking up well with De Bruyne and pressing relentlessly from the off. He didn't manage to open his account, but he certainly made his claim to feature heavily in the Premier League this season.
Joshua Wilson-Esbrand
Wilson-Esbrand has been the surprise success story of pre-season, largely because many expected City to have signed Marc Cucurella by now.
Their failure to do so, coupled with the departure of Oleksandr Zinchenko, meant that the 19-year-old left-back came on at half-time against Club America and then started against Bayern. Guardiola has suggested that the youngster could have a big future at the club.
Losers
James McAtee
Having turned down loan offers in January and decided to sign a new deal at City, McAtee would have liked the chance to stake his claim for more regular first-team involvement this season.
He may well have done that in training, but on the pitch he only featured for 19 minutes. With so many clubs interested in him, he could still leave on loan before the end of the window.
John Stones
Stones didn't travel to the US, meaning that Nathan Ake may have stolen the advantage in the battle for a starting centre-back spot. The Dutchman started both matches, and looks a sure bet to line up against Liverpool on Saturday.
After losing his place to Aymeric Laporte last season Stones ideally would have liked to impress Guardiola on tour, but now he will have to be content with trying to do that during the first weeks of the season.
Oscar Bobb, Ben Knight and Finley Burns
The trio of 19-year-old EDS players were never likely to secure much game time, but the fact that none of them played a single minute may leave them a bit disappointed.
Nevertheless, the experience of going on tour and training with the first-team stars should be a valuable one, so it's perhaps a bit harsh to call them losers.
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In truth nobody had a bad tour, with plenty of players bobbing along just nicely. Rodri was predictably superb in midfield, while Kalvin Phillips showed his quality and versatility in twice coming off the bench.
Haaland took just 12 minutes to score his first City goal, after fans were left disappointed when he sat out the Blues' first game. Ruben Dias looked his imperious self after missing the Club America match, while Riyad Mahrez showed just why City gave him a new contract by providing an excellent assist for De Bruyne's second goal in Houston.
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