Pep Guardiola will be delighted to see some of his senior players return to first-team training.
During Manchester City’s US pre-season tour, Guardiola would likely have been unable to gauge the shape his team were ahead of the 2024/2025 campaign due to the absence of some of his key names.
But it was recently reported that some of City’s stars are in training once again, such as Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji, Jeremy Doku, Matheus Nunes, Savinho and Nathan Ake.
Ahead of the FA Community Shield tie against Manchester United, the challenge for Pep Guardiola will be to decide how many of his trusted first-team players can start on Saturday.
On one hand, Guardiola would be hoping to give some of his go-to starters a run-out against United.
But simultaneously, the Catalan tactician would be hoping to avoid any early-season injuries.
Especially for players such as Ake, who are known to be rather injury-prone.
The £41 million man started 35 games in all competitions for City last season.
At the European Championship for the Netherlands as well, the former Chelsea centre-back was a mainstay in their back four, starting in all of their games at the tournament.
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Ake reacts to training with Man City again
It’s safe to say that the 28-year-old had a gruelling campaign.
Ruben Dias’ revelation about the Sky Blues’ fixture schedule on X is an insight into how their squad will be stretched next season as well.
As a result, the Dutchman will be tasked to play a lot of football during the upcoming campaign.
However, Ake seems up for the challenge, as he took to X to express his delight about returning to training with Manchester City.
The four-time Premier League winner captioned his post: “It’s good to be back.”
The Champions League winner posted pictures of himself battling with Savinho in training, alongside De Bruyne and with Nico O’Reilly and Maximo Perrone spotted on the pitch as well.
Nathan Ake will remain incredibly crucial to this City side next season
Pep Guardiola will be hoping that Ake is fully fit soon as he remains incredibly crucial to this Manchester City side and their chances of winning silverware next season.
Perhaps due to the brilliant Josko Gvardiol’s presence, it seems to go under the radar how important the ex-Bournemouth defender is to his side.
Ake’s ability to produce world-class displays at both centre-back and left-back, how he can give any winger in the Premier League a tough time and his quiet leadership are factors that only enhance the qualities of this City side.
Especially in big games, it seems like one of the players at the Etihad Stadium who seems to guarantee top performances more than most is the Feyenoord youth product.
Ake will be hoping to have yet another impressive season in a City shirt.
