Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that his side 'have no players left' ahead of their clash against Leeds United as the Premier League returns next week.
City sent the most players out of any European team bar Bayern Munich to the 2022 World Cup over the winter break as 16 of their senior team travelled to Qatar to take part in the tournament.
However, despite the likes of Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne and Germany's Ilkay Gundogan being knocked out in the group stage, those who featured for the likes of Argentina, England, Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands across the knockout stages are currently unavailable.
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That list includes players like Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Joao Cancelo, Nathan Ake and Ederson - with the only regular starters that didn't go to the tournament being Norwegian Erling Haaland and Algeria's Riyad Mahrez.
City's problems won't be helped either by the fact they face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup fourth round tonight, less than a week before their match at Elland Road. In an interview with City's in-house media, Guardiola suggested that trouble could lie ahead for his side if players don't return to Manchester sharply.
"We have no players. Four or five players [are here] so we have to see how and when they [all] come back," he said. "We are in a difficult position. We don't have players but the big brains in football made this schedule so we are going to play this game.
"Some players are coming now, yeah, in the next few days. Step by step they will rejoin the people here. Nathan [Ake], Aymeric [Laporte] and Rodri are coming back and later the English players and Portugal are coming back."
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