Man City return to training with Grealish and McAtee decisions made as club work on multiple transfers

Manchester City players were back at the City Football Academy on Monday, including players who aren't part of Pep Guardiola's plans

Manchester City return to pre-season training this week

Manchester City players trained together on Monday at the City Football Academy - as the club work on trimming the squad in time for the season.

Unlike neighbours United, where a number of first-team stars have been told not to train with the first team, everyone was part of the group with Pep Guardiola on Monday regardless of whether they feature in the manager's plans. That includes Jack Grealish and James McAtee, who were both left out of matchday squads towards the end of last season and not included in the squad for the Club World Cup.

Grealish will be the most high-profile departure this summer yet the player has not moved on with just three weeks to go before the Premier League starts. City would rather a permanent sale but know that interested clubs may be waiting until the final days or weeks of the window and could force the Blues into a loan.

McAtee could well end up being the biggest sale City make this summer, and there has been considerable interest from the Premier League and Bundesliga. Nottingham Forest, Dortmund and Frankfurt have led the chase, while Spurs could renew their interest following the dramatic events surrounding the collapse of a move for Morgan Gibbs-White, who has instead signed a new deal at Forest.

More departures are expected though, particularly given Guardiola has stated on multiple occasions that he cannot work with a squad that is as big as it got last season. While Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Scott Carson have since left, five new signings have arrived to make the group even bigger.

Stefan Ortega is another expected to leave, although that is because James Trafford will soon become the sixth summer signing. Until Ortega leaves, there will be four senior goalkeepers in training as the numbers go up rather than come down to the levels that Guardiola wants.

While the manager waits, all those who could leave are still being treated as part of the group and were back at the training ground on Monday ahead of the return of the Premier League. City take on Wolves in three weeks, with a friendly against Palermo the week before as part of their preparations.

That travelling squad may give another indication of who will or will not be part of Guardiola's plans for the season, if departures - both permanent and temporary - have not been sorted in that time.

Vitor Reis, Claudio Echeverri and Sverre Nypan are among the first team players who have attracted loan interest.

---

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.