Manchester City take on Palermo on Saturday night in their only pre-season game of 2025.
This summer has been a unique one for the Manchester club due to their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup, which has left the Premier League giants with only three weeks to prepare for the 2025/26 campaign.
This makes the trip to Italy a crucial one for Man City, with Guardiola deciding to treat the game against the Serie A club like a Champions League away fixture.
The legendary coach was not expected to take all of his players with him to Palermo, and that has proved correct as City have announced their squad for the game.
Man City fans delighted to see Divine Mukasa in Palermo squad
Man City have announced their 22-man squad to play Palermo on Saturday, with a few noticeable absences that may worry fans with the Premier League beginning in one week.
These absentees have allowed Guardiola to take 17-year-old talent Divine Mukasa with the first team to Italy, and seeing the midfielder included in the squad has thrilled fans of the Manchester club.
One Man City fan reacted to the news on X (formerly known as Twitter) by posting: ” I am really happy Mukasa made it to the squad.”
Another supporter of the Manchester club wrote: “Mukasa is here. I’m a happy man.”
A final Man City fan added: “Mukasa, I’m so happy for you. Hope you get game time.”
The excitement around Mukasa comes from the numbers the 17-year-old produced last season with Man City’s academy teams, where the midfielder scored 17 goals and assisted a further 25 across 41 matches.
The youngster will be over the moon with his inclusion in Guardiola’s squad; however, the players who are not travelling to Italy will concern City fans.
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Josko Gvardiol is not travelling to Palermo
Following the confirmation of Man City’s squad to play Palermo, Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski provided an update on the players that were left out.
With Everton showing an interest in Jack Grealish and James McAtee still on Nottingham Forest’s radar, both English stars were left in Manchester along with Stefan Ortega.
The big concerns are the absence of Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, and Phil Foden, who are all expected to have a crucial role to play when Man City open up their Premier League campaign against Wolves next week.
City fans have concerns that Gvardiol played too much last season, and they will be worried that it has a knock-on effect throughout the 25/26 campaign.
The trio are very likely to have been left out of the Palermo squad as a precaution with the Premier League being so close, and the coming days will reveal a lot more about each individual’s situation.
