PA Media/dpa
London
Manchester City could be heading for another clash with the Premier League - this time over the start date for next season.
City manager Pep Guardiola says the league will not accept a request from the club to postpone their first matches of the 2025-26 campaign because of their involvement in next summer’s Club World Cup.
The champions fear burnout among their squad owing to their heavy schedule this term, which could run until July 13 if they reach the final of FIFA’s expanded 32-team tournament in the United States.
That could leave them just a four-week gap to squeeze in player holidays and pre-season preparations in time for the anticipated start of the Premier League, and a potentially shorter break if they are involved in the Community Shield.
Guardiola says enquiries about a potential delay for City have so far fallen on deaf ears and he does not expect that to change.
This comes at a time of strained relations between the club and league as City face a hearing into 115 charges of alleged rule-breaking, including a failure to co-operate with an investigation.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash with Fulham, Guardiola said: “The Premier League (has) not allowed us to postpone - and Chelsea, I think, all the teams that will go to the World Cup - the first two games to have more recovery. Thank you so much! They don’t postpone these games.
“I think the club asked the Premier League, (for) the first or second game, to postpone it one or two, three weeks, in the middle (of the) week, to have one more week or two more weeks’ holidays after the World Cup.”
Asked to clarify if a request had not been allowed, Guardiola said: “Absolutely not. The Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. It’s not going to happen.”
The Premier League has not commented but the PA news agency understands initial discussions were held over the possibility of postponing fixtures. These were of an informal nature and no specific request was made.
Whilst there was no outright refusal, City have not been given the impression any such application would succeed.
For its part, the Premier League has been put in a difficult position by the addition of the Club World Cup, which also involves Chelsea, to the calendar in what would normally be a fallow summer.
