Manchester City staff member set for special Premier League envoy visit to Brazil | OneFootball

A groundsman from the Etihad Stadium is set to pay a consulting visit to Brazilian side Gremio when the club unveil a new pitch in early 2026, as per a new report.

Manchester City have recovered from their early season slump with a turnaround in form since the September international break, fuelled largely by the form of Erling Haaland the resurgence of Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku in attack.

The trio have been instrumental in City’s fine form of late, starting thrice in seven days against Manchester United, Napoli and Arsenal last week and after a rest in the Carabao Cup against Huddersfield, they were back in the lineup at the weekend as City put Burnley to the sword with a stylish 5-1 win.

Pep Guardiola’s men suffered two defeats in their first three Premier League games of the season following a major squad rejig in the summer orchestrated by newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana, who replaced long-serving executive Txiki Begiristain earlier this year.

Guardiola has two years remaining on his current deal at the Etihad Stadium and is leading a revolution at the Etihad Stadium after City parted ways with a series of senior stars integral to the club’s success over the years in the recent window.

City made seven new signings in the recent window and the deadline day acquisition of Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain for £26 million is being widely hailed as the greatest bit of transfer business this year.

Donnarumma is making a strong case to be Manchester City’s first-choice goalkeeper less than a month into his arrival from Paris, having impressed in goal over a testing run of fixtures that included games against Manchester United, Napoli and Arsenal.

A long injury list and an unfit Rodri mean Manchester City are yet to fully click into gear as they navigate a period of transition on the pitch, with Viana also making significant changes in staff behind the scenes this summer.

As reported by Brazilian outlet Zero Hora and relayed by Sport Witness, Manchester City groundsman John Ledwidge is set to travel to Brazil in early 2026 to provide consultancy services for Rio-based club Gremio.

Gremio are set to unveil a new pitch at the start of 2026 and Ledwidge has been hired to provide his expertise and train the Brazilian club’s ground staff after overseeing the installation of a new pitch at the Etihad Stadium in 2023.

Ledwidge has established his status as one of the pioneers in the ground staff business after joining Manchester City a few years ago, following a decade of experience with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

City return to action on Wednesday evening as they face a tricky test away at AS Monaco on matchday two of the UEFA Champions League group-stage campaign after a 2-0 victory over Kevin De Bruyne and Napoli in their opening group-phase game a few weeks ago.