Man City confirm 27-man Club World Cup squad: Jack Grealish decision made as four new signings are included

Manchester City have named a 27-man squad for this summer's FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

The Citizens will endeavour to retain their 2023 crown when they participate in the newly-expanded 32-team tournament, with Pep Guardiola’s squad to jet off to North America later this week.

Under the guidance of new director of football Hugo Viana, Man City have bolstered their squad with four new arrivals within a 39-hour period in time for the Club World Cup.

Midfielder Tijjani Reijnders is the latest arrival, with his £46.5m switch from AC Milan confirmed on Wednesday morning, and he has joined left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli and playmaker Rayan Cherki at the Etihad Stadium.

To the delight of every Citizens supporter, all four players were signed before the 7.00pm deadline on Tuesday and have been named in Man City’s travelling squad to the States.

Man City’s squad also includes Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who is fit and raring to go after recovering from an ACL injury that kept him sidelined for eight months last season.

However, there are a few notable omissions from Man City’s squad, none more so than attacker Jack Grealish who is facing an uncertain future at the club.

Grealish, Walker, Phillips, McAtee, Kovacic all left out

The 29-year-old fell down the pecking order under Guardiola last season and was reduced to just seven Premier League starts, while he featured for just four minutes across City’s final seven top-flight fixtures at a time when the Citizens were pushing to qualify for the Champions League.

Grealish and Man City are open to a parting of ways this summer and England head coach Thomas Tuchel recently hinted that £100m signing from Aston Villa in 2021 would benefit from leaving the Etihad, as he "needs to make himself available by playing” if he wishes to return to the Three Lions squad.

A loan exit remains a possibility for Grealish given his £300,000-a-week wages, with both Everton and Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen recently emerging as potential destinations for the left-sided attacker.

Elsewhere, fellow Englishmen Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips have been left out of Man City’s squad, with both players expected to leave this summer following loan spells at AC Milan and Ipswich Town respectively.

Mateo Kovacic is another high-profile omission, but his absence is due to an Achilles injury which required surgery and could keep him sidelined for up to three months, leaving him in a race against time to recover for the start of the 2025-26 season.

James McAtee has also been left out as he has chosen to captain England at the Under-21 European Championship in Slovakia, while club legend Kevin De Bruyne is absent despite still being contracted to the Citizens until June 30, as he edges closer to joining Napoli on a free transfer.

Man City have been drawn in Group G at the Club World Cup alongside Juventus, Al-Ain and Wydad AC and they will face the latter in their opening fixture at the tournament in Philadelphia on June 18.

Man City’s 27-man Club World Cup squad in full:

Goalkeepers:

Marcus Bettinelli, Stefan Ortega, Ederson

Defenders:

Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis

Midfielders:

Tijjani Reijnders, Nico Gonzalez, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Rayan Cherki, Claudio Echeverri, Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb, Nico O’Reilly

Attackers:

Omar Marmoush, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Savinho

Written by
Oliver Thomas