Manchester City will get their pre-season under way in earnest on Thursday morning when they face Club America.
The Blues will take on the Mexican outfit at 1:30am (8:30pm local time on Wednesday evening) at the NRG Stadium in Houston, with a squad of 25 players for Pep Guardiola to chose from. However, Ruben Dias may be a doubt after he missed open training on Tuesday, while Oleksandr Zinchenko has left the camp to complete his transfer to Arsenal.
Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones did not travel with the group as they did not meet US entry requirements, while Aymeric Laporte stayed in the UK to continue his recovery from injury. In the context of those absences, as well as the need for new players to bed-in and adapt, there are five players who will be extra keen to impress Guardiola and stake their claim to be in his line-up for the opening day of the Premier League season.
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Jack Grealish
Everyone closely connected with City expected Jack Grealish to need a season of adaptation following his £100m move from Aston Villa last summer, so his relatively poor output last term came as little surprise.
This season, though, Grealish knows he must produce the goods, and following the departures of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, there are fewer barriers to him starting games in wide positions. With Phil Foden missing the US tour, a good pre-season will put Grealish in pole position to start in the Community Shield on 30 July.
Nathan Ake
At one point Nathan Ake looked likely to leave City. But now that his move to Chelsea has fallen through, he has a real chance to begin the season as one of City's starting centre-backs.
With Laporte recovering from injury, Stones not able to travel to the US and Dias missing Tuesday's session, Ake is in the best position to make a good impression. He will likely start against Club America and Bayern Munich at the weekend, and as Guardiola has said in the past, players who perform will keep their starting spots.
Cole Palmer
The 2022/23 campaign is shaping up to be a big season for Cole Palmer, who made his mark in the City team last season by scoring in all three cup competitions.
Injuries prevented him from featuring more in the final few months of the season, but following the departures of Jesus and Sterling he looks set to shadow Riyad Mahrez on the right flank. Strong displays in pre-season will set him up nicely for the next stage of his development.
Julian Alvarez
All eyes will be on Erling Haaland in Houston, meaning that Julian Alvarez' first touches as a City player could fly under the radar. However, he will be keen to make his case to Guardiola that he should not be considered as a back-up to the Norwegian when the season starts.
Alvarez is arguably fitter than any of his new teammates right now, as he continued playing for River Plate right up until the end of June. That can play to his advantage and see him enter the new season at peak sharpness.
Rico Lewis and Joshua Wilson-Esbrand
The departure of Zinchenko means Guardiola now has just two senior full-backs in his squad. City will try to sign a left-back — with Brighton's Marc Cucurella the prime target — but even if they do, a new recruit will need time to bed-in and adapt to Pep's system.
That could afford opportunities for young full-backs Rico Lewis and Joshua Wilson-Esbrand to be named in Premier League matchday squads, to act as cover for Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo. There might not be room for both, so whoever impresses most in the US will likely get the nod.
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