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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Isaac Johnson

Why Man City fans are boycotting Community Shield as Ilkay Gundogan opens Declan Rice opportunity

Here are your Manchester City evening headlines for Saturday, June 24.

'It's the tipping point' - why Man City fans are still boycotting Community Shield despite kick-off U-turn

Manchester City fans have secured a victory over the authorities this week by forcing the Community Shield kick-off time back by 90 minutes later this summer. But they have no plans of stopping there.

City supporters were largely furious at the decision to schedule the 2023 Community Shield curtain-raiser vs Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday, August 6, with a 5.30pm kick-off time. With limited public transport options on a Sunday evening, 30,000 City fans faced a return to Manchester in the early hours of Monday morning for another Wembley trip.

ALSO READ: Rodri has already shown he could play next to Declan Rice and Mateo Kovacic

After thousands of fans spent thousands of pounds to get to Istanbul at the end of a long season, many were willing to leave the Community Shield and save their money. That is where the 1894 fan group stepped in, organising a boycott of the game to send a clear message to the FA and broadcasters ITV.

Read more here >>>

Ilkay Gundogan offers obvious Man City opportunity for Declan Rice

Declan Rice knows exactly what to expect from moves to Manchester City or Arsenal.

Arsenal have led the race for his signature for some time and Mikel Arteta has explained how he can fit into the system at the Emirates and how important a player he can be. Should City turn their interest into a bid, the West Ham midfielder has spoken enough times to people about life at the Etihad to know what to expect there.

Anyone looking at the two clubs would see that there is more chance of Rice being an important player in North London. Arsenal came close to winning the title last season, are in the Champions League again, and see Rice as a key component in taking them to the next level.

City, to be blunt, don't need Rice anywhere near as much. Rodri established himself not only as the best holding midfielder in the game last season but also one of the fittest, playing an extraordinary amount of minutes.

Read on >>>

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