‘Ignore the happy faces’ – Manchester City insider claims crunch talks to be held behind-the-scenes this week | OneFootball

Crunch talks will be held this week behind-the-scenes at Manchester City as Hugo Viana and his colleagues intensify their work on trimming down Pep Guardiola’s squad.

With pre-season training now in full flow and the club’s first and only warm-up fixture scheduled against Palermo in early August, internal work is ramping up to resolve ongoing uncertainties around a number of senior and fringe first-team players.

Manchester City’s squad remains bloated, and sporting director Hugo Viana has been tasked with overseeing a careful balancing act to support Pep Guardiola’s ambitions of working with a relatively trim roster.

That task is made more complicated by the sheer number of unresolved player situations, with Stefan Ortega expected to leave following James Trafford’s arrival, Jack Grealish the subject of Premier League interest with a loan seen as most feasible, and players like Kalvin Phillips and James McAtee also expected to depart.

Beyond those names, there are also doubts around the roles of John Stones, Ilkay Gündoğan, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, and even younger players such as Claudio Echeverri and Vitor Reis.

Issuing an update to Manchester City supporters on X (formerly Twitter) this week, club insider ‘Tolmie’s Hairdoo‘ claimed, “Ignore the happy faces and hugs at training. Some very difficult meetings and home truths being delivered this week.”

While the precise players involved in these meetings have not been disclosed, it is widely understood that many of the aforementioned names are either candidates for exits or seeking clarity over their role in the 2025/26 campaign.

Manchester City’s internal goal remains to ensure the squad is both streamlined and competitive, with several emerging academy talents also pushing for minutes in the new season.

A number of recent first-team training images from the City Football Academy showed smiles and team spirit, but a more serious tone is seemingly also present behind closed doors as Manchester City begin their summer work.

That could be especially true for senior players facing reduced roles or those returning from injuries, such as Mateo Kovacic and John Stones, who must now compete with recent arrivals like Tijjani Reijnders and Abdukodir Khusanov.

Looking ahead, Manchester City could act quickly once these internal discussions conclude, and players who are deemed surplus to requirements may be fast-tracked for exits, whether through loan agreements or permanent sales with buy-back clauses.