Man City get triple training boost before first Premier League game

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Manchester City are preparing for their first Premier League game of the season and there was plenty to be positive about on Thursday

Pep Guardiola and Rodri

Ederson trained with Manchester City on Thursday amid ongoing reports linking him with a move away from the club. It has been claimed that the goalkeeper has agreed terms with Galatasaray on a transfer in this window with a deal said to be close.

City insist that they do not want to lose Pep Guardiola's No.1 and said earlier in the week that they had not received any offers for him. The fact that he was involved in the session preparing for Wolves on Saturday has to be seen as a positive for the club if they aim to keep him at the club.

Phil Foden was also involved after he missed the trip to Palermo last week with a knock to his ankle. Foden is determined to get back to his best this season after suffering with mental and physical burnout last year that left him a shadow of the player he had been.

He can only return to form by staying clear of injuries though, so his participation in Thursday's session bodes well for his availability for the first Premier League game of the season.

Foden was among the winning team on Thursday, which also featured Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. Guardiola emphasised last week that the player will not likely be fully fit until after the first international window, even if he hopes to give him minutes in the opening three weeks.

Rodri has started to train again with the team last week, but stayed at home as they flew to Italy for their only pre-season friendly. Having him in sessions now that they have returned indicates that there have not been any more setbacks with his return from a serious injury.

"Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al Hilal. He has trained better in the last few days, hopefully after the international break is when he will be really fit," Guardiola said a week ago.

"Hopefully in these games he can play some minutes but what is important is he doesn't have pain because we don't want this Rodri coming back injured.

"We try desperately to avoid that. He has been training the last two sessions with us and that's good."

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