Ederson Happy to Stay At Manchester City; Rise of Kalvin Phillips

Keeping away from one speculation that has been going on for months, those with Manchester City tickets will breathe a sigh of relief as goalkeeper Ederson insists that he is happy to stay at Manchester City. 

The goalkeeper has been the subject of interest from the Saudi Pro League’s Al-Ittihad, who have been unable to negotiate a deal with City.

City values Ederson at around £ 50 million, and manager Pep Guardiola revealed that he hoped ‘from the bottom of my heart’ that the Brazilian would stay at the Etihad Stadium.

‘There isn’t a definitive yet (on my future),’ Ederson said.

‘Hearing Pep say that was very gratifying. It’s now my eighth season with him, and there have been many good moments and some bad ones.

The 30-year-old was given the captain’s armband as City lost 3-2 against AC Milan in their second friendly of a four-match tour of the United States.

Those with Manchester City tickets weren’t too happy heading home, but the friendlies are clearly not the correct yardstick for measuring team performance at any stage. 

‘I’m happy here. I’m having a good moment with my teammates,’ he added. ‘I’m enjoying as well to get my fitness back on track. I’m very calm, whatever happens is in God’s hands.’

Guardiola watched Oscar Bobb impress again, with the Norwegian assisting Erling Haaland after dazzling footwork.

Jack Grealish has had a more cautious start to pre-season, but his manager believes the England man, who missed out on the European Championship, will progress.

‘Step by step, step by step,’ Guardiola said. ‘It’s important that he is getting minutes after the holidays. He’s trying, and he will get his best.’

Atletico Madrid is Pushing for Alvarez

Atletico Madrid have begun talks with Manchester City to sign Argentina striker Julian Alvarez, while Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah may miss out on a move to Marseille. 

Elsewhere, Ivan Toney may stay at Brentford for the upcoming Premier League season, and Liverpool are considering a loan move for Bobby Clark with interest from Europe and the Championship.

There are also reports emerging that PSG is also in talks with Manchester City you about the services of the World Cup winner; Atletico seems to have advanced further. 

Those with Manchester City tickets were disappointed when the Argitnine refused to sign a new contract and insisted on leaving. 

It is expected that the Argentine could cost them around  £70 million. 

City Fined for Wasting Time 

The Premier League has fined Manchester City just over £2m; City has breached rules relating to kick-off and re-starts after half-time of matches 22 times over the last two seasons; City has apologized for the breaches and has agreed to pay the fine to the Premier League.

Manchester City have been fined just over £2m by the Premier League for breaching rules relating to kick-off and re-starts after half-time of matches.

There were 22 separate breaches over the last two seasons, with eight coming during the 2022/23 campaign and 14 last season.

City has apologized for the breaches and has agreed to pay the £2.09m fine to the Premier League.

The club has also confirmed that it has reminded the players and the football management teams of their responsibilities.

A statement from the Premier League read: “The Premier League and Manchester City FC have entered into a sanction agreement after the club accepted it had breached Premier League Rule L.33 relating to kick-off and re-start obligations.

“The breaches relate to several Premier League matches during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.

“Rules relating to kick-offs and re-starts help ensure the competition’s organization is set at the highest possible professional standard and provide certainty to fans and participating clubs.

“It also ensures the broadcast of all 380 League matches worldwide is kept to schedule.

“As required by the Premier League Rules, the sanction agreement has been ratified by three members of the Independent Judicial Panel.”

They were found to have delayed restarts by 39 minutes and 52 seconds in total in 23 late kick-offs across 22 games in the last two seasons.

Their first, a delay of one minute and 18 seconds to the start of the second half against Crystal Palace in August 2022, incurred a warning.

Fines ranging from £10,000 to £200,000 have then been imposed for each subsequent breach. The longest delay was two minutes and 46 seconds for the start of the season’s final game against West Ham last season when City clinched a fourth successive title.

Fans are Loving Kalvin Phillips

One thing that very few fans will have seen coming during pre-season was Kalvin Phillips doing a job at center-back for Manchester City. And those with Manchester City tickets are loving it. 

The England international was featured prominently during the city’s tour of the US.

He did not have the best outings against Celtic or AC Milan. But against Barcelona, Pep Guardiola threw a curveball and started Phillips as center-back.

Phillips had been getting caught out of position when playing against Celtic and Milan, so Pep decided to try him in a new role.

Against Barcelona, he was praised for a reasonably assured display at the back, with his passing particularly good.

Phillips followed that up with another strong display against Chelsea in last night’s 4-2 win in Colombus, Ohio, when he played at the back again.

There is less to think about positionally as a center-back than as a holding midfielder.

As a result, Phillips has yet to look out of place.

The Manchester Evening News was enthused by his display, giving him a 7/10 rating and saying: “Once again, a solid performance at center-back.

“If City didn’t have so many players in that position, he might have done enough to stake a claim for a position change, but he’s probably only confirmed that he doesn’t have a future in midfield. In isolation, a good game.”

Of course, Phillips has only been given a couple of games at center-back because several players are still away. And, of course, Pep felt more inclined to go with Mateo Kovacic and the impressive Nico O’Reilly once he had returned.