Manchester City have announced their 22-man squad as they travel to sister club Palermo to contest the preseason ‘Anglo Palermitan Trophy.’ The game will take place at 8pm UK time on Saturday, and will be viewable through City’s app for those with a City+ subscription.
OFFICIAL: #ManCity’s 22-man travelling squad vs Palermo.
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 8, 2025
Ederson, Trafford; Lewis, Khusanov, Nunes, Dias, Akanji, Stones, Ake, Ait-Nouri, O'Reilly; Nico, Gundogan, Bernardo, Reijnders, Mukasa, Cherki; Bobb, Savinho, Marmoush, Haaland, Doku.
Goalkeepers
City travel with two goalkeepers, long time starter Ederson and newly resigned James Trafford. There will be hope amongst City fans that they may get to see Trafford play at least one of the halves in Italy. The decision to include Trafford and exclude Stefan Ortega also surely signals that the German will be trying to leave the club before the end of the month.
Defense
Five centre-backs travel, with only Joško Gvardiol missing out on the squad. Given Gvardiol played more minutes that any other City player last season, the decision to leave him in Manchester is presumably one of load management. At fullback, Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes will presumably make up the right-sided options, and new signing Rayan Ait-Nouri is accompanied by a newly extended Nico O’Reilly.
Midfield
Four options for the deeper midfield roles that City use in captain Bernardo Silva, former captain Ilkay Gündogan, January signing Nico González and summer signing Tijjani Reijnders. The exclusion of Rodri, who returned from an ACL injury towards the end of last season and who picked up a knock at the Club World Cup, is probably simply a case of not taking a risk. The more advanced options include Rayan Cherki, as well as the only real surprise inclusion in Divine Mukasa, a 17 year old with no first team appearances. Preseason games can often signal youngsters that Pep Guardiola believes are close to breaking into the first team, as seen with Nico O’Reilly last year and Rico Lewis two years before that, so City fans can get excited that this might spell more chances for the youngster during the season. Phil Foden is not included, but given the player spoke of dealing with fatigue last season it is, like Rodri and Gvardiol, probably just a case of managing minutes.
Forwards
Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush make up the central options, while City fans will be delighted to see Oscar Bobb included after his 2024/25 season was hampered by a major injury in preseason. Regular starters Savinho and Jérémy Doku also make the squad, with Jack Grealish missing out and seemingly still on his way out of the club in some capacity.
Conclusion
Given this is the only opportunity fans will get to watch City before their Premier League opener against Wolves on the 16th, there will be more eyes on this game than most City friendlies. The specific number of 22 players, just enough for two full XIs, might signal Pep Guardiola’s intention to field two completely different line-ups across the match. City fans will be hoping to see signs that the club are moving in the right direction following a disappointing campaign last year.
