MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City team may start the season “not ready” as the club still have to offload several players before the transfer window closes.

City, who have 31 senior players, are in Sicily for a friendly against Palermo tonight without Jack Grealish, Stefan Ortega and James McAtee – three players who are expected to leave the club in the near future.

Everton are among the clubs interested in signing Grealish, while Nottingham Forest are leading the race to sign McAtee.

Guardiola also hinted that Rodri’s role in the opening weeks of the season may be limited.

“We need a smaller squad. I don’t like a squad that is too big, a lot of players have to leave.

“The transfer window is moving fast, a lot of things will happen. We will see and try to manage it as best as possible.

“The team’s mood is the same as during the Club World Cup. We may have missed a few friendlies to prepare, so the first three games against Wolves, Spurs and Brighton may not be perfect.

“But we chose to focus more on training sessions than playing matches,” said Guardiola.

Rodri, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol were also left out of the second pre-season trip to Italy, with all three still not fully fit.

Rodri has returned to training after suffering a groin injury in the Club World Cup defeat to Al Hilal, but City are cautious about his recovery.

Guardiola expects the Ballon d’Or winner to only be fully fit after the September international break.

“Rodri is getting better but his injury is quite serious. He has been training better these days, and I hope after the international break he will be really ready.

“Maybe in the early matches he can play a few minutes, but the important thing is that he is free from pain. We don’t want him to come back and get injured. He is not ready to play 90 minutes,” he said.

ATLANTA: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim backed Bruno Fernandes’ criticism of the team’s performance after the 2-2 draw with Everton and said he would be happy for players to speak up if the team’s standards dipped.

Fernandes previously described some of the action at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium as ‘lazy’ and demanded that his teammates improve their level of play.

When asked if he agreed with the team captain’s statement, Amorim insisted that he had no problem if players ‘reprimanded each other’ in line with his efforts to improve the work culture at Old Trafford.

“I’m happy if the players feel that,” said Amorim.

“It shows they understand the real situation. So for me, that’s a good sign. I think the momentum of this tour is perfect.

“We’ve had a few weeks to work in a positive atmosphere and now we’re back at Carrington and about to start the new season.

“We will return with the realization that there is still much to improve.”

In addition to commenting on the performance against Everton, Fernandes also told NBC that he hopes the team can bring in ‘one or two more players’ before the transfer window closes.

“A team can always be improved with more players but we already have players who can create competition internally,” said Amorim when asked about Fernandes’ statement.

“What’s important is that we need to improve as a team. We have the potential to grow with the players we have and I’m very happy with this team.”

So far, United have spent millions to acquire Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who made his debut against Everton.

They are also still interested in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.

HONG KONG: Luis Diaz was left out of Liverpool’s pre-season defeat to AC Milan as he is in talks for a lucrative move to Bayern Munich.

The Premier League champions, who lost 4-2 to Milan in Hong Kong, are expected to accept a second bid for Diaz after rejecting an initial offer of almost 58.5 million pounds. The Colombia international is believed to be keen to leave Anfield.

He was left out of Liverpool’s 22-man squad on Saturday, and manager Arne Slot confirmed the decision was made in light of the ongoing transfer speculation.

When asked if Diaz’s absence was due to his future, Slot replied: “In Lucho’s situation, yes. There have been a lot of rumours circulating lately and I can’t comment further.

“But he trained very well with us and we decided not to play him for now.”

Asked if Diaz wanted to move, Slot simply said: “I’m not the one to ask.”

Darwin Nunez, whose future is also unclear, was also not fielded in the match, but Slot explained that the Uruguayan player suffered a minor injury.

Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister are also sidelined due to fitness issues, but are expected to be fit for the next match.

Meanwhile, defender Joe Gomez returned to England after injuring his Achilles tendon.

This situation leaves Liverpool with only two fit central defenders, increasing pressure on the club to make additional signings – despite having already spent 295 million pounds in this summer’s transfer window.

In the defeat to Milan, Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo scored for Liverpool, while Florian Wirtz and 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha were among the positives to be proud of.

Liverpool will fly to Tokyo for the second leg of their pre-season tour of Asia.

LONDON: Real Madrid are ready to make a £100 million bid for Manchester City star Rodri this summer.

New Madrid manager Xabi Alonso put the Spanish midfielder as his main target after his team lost badly to PSG in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup earlier this month.

Although City manager Pep Guardiola will certainly be reluctant to let go of his central midfielder with his absence for most of last season being one of the main factors in City missing out on the Premier League championship, Madrid believes the Etihad club may be tempted by a mega offer.

Rodri, 29, was sidelined from September until the end of last season following serious ACL and meniscus injuries suffered in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal.

He only made one appearance in the starting line-up and three from the bench at the Club World Cup, but only lasted 37 minutes in the match against Al Hilal in the round of 16 as City suffered a shock defeat, before experiencing new problems.

Uncertainty over Rodri’s actual physical condition is among the factors that may lead Real to take a wait-and-see approach, given his contract at City only expires in 2027.

This means the Bernabeu club can fully assess his fitness level over the next 12 months, while the player’s market value is also expected to decline as his contract nears the end.

But Alonso is understood to be urging Real’s management to present a bid now, as they are aware City may try to offer Rodri a long-term contract extension if his fitness fully recovers.

Real believe the former Atletico man, who hails from the Spanish capital and moved to the Premier League in a £62.8 million move six years ago, may be open to a return to his homeland.

Alonso is said to have been very surprised by the weakness of his team’s midfield when they were beaten by PSG, where they failed to match the movement and intensity of players like Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz.

The situation led him to urge that the midfield be strengthened and Rodri, who won the 2024 Ballon d’Or despite missing the final three months of the season due to surgery, was seen as the perfect solution.

Guardiola has never hidden how important Rodri is to his squad.

After Rodri was introduced against Juventus in the US, Pep said: “Everyone knows how important Rodri is.

“He’s one of the best players in the world. If he’s not in the squad, the loss will be felt deeply.”

City signed Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez from Porto for £50 million in January and also brought in Dutch international Tijjani Reijnders before the Club World Cup and Norwegian teenager Sverre Nypan last week.

But it remains unclear whether they can truly replace Rodri and Guardiola is seen as less inclined to sell.

However, Madrid are willing to test City’s resilience ahead of the final few weeks of the summer transfer window.