There's not an awful lot Pep Guardiola can do during Manchester City's warm-weather training trip but three players may well benefit from some more personal time with the manager.
The bulk of City's squad are still away in Qatar representing their countries in the World Cup and though Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne's tournaments ended earlier than expected, they are now having some brief time off before the churn begins anew. As a result, only seven of the 19-man strong squad are first-teamers.
Two of those are goalkeepers Stefan Ortega and Scott Carson and another two are academy graduates Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis. Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez and Sergio Gomez are the only senior outfielders not to head to the Middle East.
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The rest of the squad consists of the promising talent from the EDS so other than working to get fitness up there doesn't appear to be much Guardiola can work on in Abu Dhabi. However, the camp could be surprisingly useful.
Usually, Guardiola will have a whole legion of players he has to look over but now he can comfortably grant extra personal time to his few first-teamers. Some could really use it, too. None more so than Gomez.
The Spanish left-back hasn't set the world alight since his move from Anderlecht in the summer, but that's okay. He was never meant to. Only a late change in circumstances has led to Gomez staying at the Etihad this season. City sold Oleksandr Zinchenko thinking they were going to sign Marc Cucurella to replace him.
But when Brighton wouldn't relent on their lofty fee and Chelsea swooped in offering even more, he headed to London instead and the Blues suddenly looked short on options. A deal to sign Gomez was already in place but the club changed their mind to keep him for more backup in defence rather than immediately loan him out as was planned.
So it's of little surprise that Gomez doesn't look quite up to the level required of him just yet. He was sent off for a silly foul against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League and has looked a liability in a lot of his appearances. The 22-year-old will benefit more than most from some extra time with Guardiola to get even more accustomed to his methods and learn what is required for him as a full-back in his system.
Riyad Mahrez is another who could get a boost from working under Guardiola more intensely. The winger was excellent last season and finished as the club's top scorer. Yet, he has struggled to recapture that form this time around and has looked short on confidence.
The Algerian has missed penalties, been uninspired on the right flank and managed to net just once in the Premier League. He has unsurprisingly slid down the attacking pecking order. Hopefully some time off to recuperate and now a refresh with Guardiola will get him back to his best.
Finally, Cole Palmer would benefit hugely from as much time with Guardiola as possible. The highly-rated youngster has been ticking along nicely this season and has become a piece of the furniture. But he is still to have that real breakout display in a City shirt and being able to work with the manager can only punish his development along further.
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