Monday, 4 July 2016

Manchester City: Pep Guardiola turns up for work dressed in Stone Island as new manager eyes two more signings

Manchester City are close to securing two new signings as the Pep Guardiola revolution continues apace.
Ilkay Gundogan and Nolito have already been snapped up by City this summer, with chief executive Ferran Soriano stating more will follow after Euro 2016 has finished.


City are 'halfway' in their recruitment drive as Guardiola started pre-season on Monday morning at their training base - with the Spaniard rocking up in Stone Island gear on his first full day as boss.

The designer brand is popular among football fans and the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager showed off his dress sense - while he was joined by a number of his first-team players.

Vincent Kompany, Gundogan, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Fernandinho and Fabian Delph all reported for duty.
They will be joined by those involved in international tournaments and additional faces in the coming days and weeks.

'You need to change three, four or five players in a season. We have two new players, one gone and maybe we're halfway,' Soriano told the BBC.

'There will be some more. Two deals are close, the other deals are fairly advanced. Some players don't want to announce anything until they [the Euros] are finished.'

One City target, Schalke's Leroy Sane, is still at the European Championship with Germany, who face France in a semi-final this week.

Another target, John Stones, is away on holiday after England's humiliating demise against Iceland last Monday night.
And Soriano believes Guardiola is ready to take City onto another level.

'We believe with Pep we go one step forward in terms of tactical sophistication and playing beautiful football, which is what we want to do,' he added.

'It's not a massive change, just another step in the direction we want to go.
'He had one month on holiday and spent at least half of it working. All the successful people I've known are obsessed. This is how you master an activity.'

The first-team squad members were joined by a number of youngsters, including Bersant Celina and Shay Facey, before being put through their paces by Manuel Pellegrini’s successor.

The tests are routine, headed up by their meticulous sports science department, and determine how much work needs to be done by each individual before the Premier League starts in August.

Each player is handed an exercise programme during their time off which they are expected to adhere to. That took on all the more importance this year given Guardiola’s arrival, with the Catalan revealing every member is being afforded a clean slate.

Tuesday will take much on much of the same as City - and notably fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura - keep an eye on energy levels before the real hard work begins towards the middle of the week.

Double sessions are pencilled in for both Wednesday and Thursday for the first team and younger academy products, while Gundogan will not be involved as he steps up his recovery from a dislocated kneecap.

The players will report to training both mornings before enjoying some downtime ahead of a second training drill in the afternoon.

It is during those days when Guardiola will begin bringing the balls out of the shed and start directing on their training pitches, although no intricate tactical moves will be looked at owing to many of the squad still being away.

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