Manchester City's squad for the upcoming season has already taken shape. Most of the new signings have arrived while at least most of the big departures have said their goodbyes.
Aside from a new left-back, the remaining intrigue lies around the fringes of Pep Guardiola's squad where a number of young players look to take a decision that could make or break their future at the Etihad. Liam Delap, James McAtee and Kayky have all travelled to the US for City's pre-season tour in an attempt to show the manager what they can do, but - as previously reported - the club are open to each of them opting for a temporary move elsewhere for more regular game time.
Phil Foden and Cole Palmer show the benefit of sticking in Manchester, while the departure of Oleksandr Zinchenko means that no player in the squad has been out on loan elsewhere before becoming part of Guardiola's plans. Once you leave the Etihad, it is difficult to return.
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However, something that has been done before can be done again and the new generation are confident and fearless enough to back their own decisions. Their choices may be impacted this season by the knock-on effect the winter World Cup has on the Carabao Cup.
City have won the League Cup four times out of six under Guardiola, and it is usually the competition where the manager most frequently turns to his academy prospects. Foden and Palmer have previously used memorable performances in that tournament to earn game time in other competitions, with the former's man-of-the-match performance in the 2020 final so significant that he now has a dog called Carabao.
However, while the tournament is usually frontloaded in the season to allow the young players to make an early impression on Guardiola - Delap scored on debut against Bournemouth in 2020 and then made his Premier League debut days later - this season because of the World Cup the Blues will not play in the cup until November. Then comes the World Cup for another six weeks.
As they weigh up their options, City's talented youngsters will have to face the reality of the matter that getting minutes under Guardiola in the first half of the season will be more challenging than it usually is. That isn't to say that they can't play in other competitions or take advantage of the other benefits involved with sticking around the first team, but if it is game time they are after there is less risk than usual in deciding on a loan and then reassessing in January.
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