Pep Guardiola plans significant changes to Manchester City line-up in Club World Cup | OneFootball

Manchester City’s starting line-up on matchday two of the FIFA Club World Cup could be subject to significant alterations, according to Pep Guardiola.

City begun their Club World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 triumph over Wydad AC as Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku ensured a positive start to the tournament in the United States for the Blues.

Guardiola has been given a huge personnel boost by director of football Hugo Viana as new arrivals – Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki – were all signed in time for the competition.

Cherki and Reijnders were put straight into the starting XI on Wednesday as the pair made their Manchester City debuts against Wydad AC, with Ait-Nouri not coming off the bench and Bettinelli excluded from the matchday squad altogether.

City have a rich array of talent at their disposal in the United States and the Club World Cup will give Guardiola some insight into the energy and motivation levels in the dressing room after a long-drawn, challenging 2024-25 season.

Liverpool pipped Manchester City to the Premier League title and Real Madrid knocked out the Blues in the Round of 16 stage of the UEFA Champions League last term. Guardiola’s side were also beaten by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.

However, Viana and the Manchester City board have given Guardiola the ammunition he needs to rebuild ahead of the 2025-26 campaign and the Catalan will be relishing the opportunity to mix it up and make use of richness of options he has been provided at the Club World Cup.

Speaking to broadcasters after Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Wydad AC, Guardiola admitted to a plan of rotating his starting line-ups heavily over the course of the Club World Cup. “Everybody is going to play this tournament,” the 54-year-old said.

“It’s not a World Cup or European Cup, when after you finish you go on holiday – we’ll be together for 11 months. The season starts today, and finishes next May or June.

“So everybody is going to play, and everybody has to be involved otherwise it’s unsustainable for a long season; physically and for team spirit.

“The selection is because I trust all of them, and maybe next game (vs Al Ain) – we will change a lot.” In another interview, Guardiola added: “Many players, we need to give them minutes otherwise if they come back from a long injury and don’t play they’ll never get it.

“Next game (vs Al Ain) 10 new players will be there to try and win.”