Premier League rejects Manchester City's plea for a longer summer break | Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has revealed that the Premier League has rejected Manchester City's request to delay the start of next season to give players more time to recover from the Club World Cup. City are expected to take part in the tournament in the United States next summer and may finish their current season in mid-July.

City have spoken to the Premier League about the prospect of starting the 2025-2026 season after other top teams and have been told by authorities they will not make an exception for the current champions, who will be joined in America by Chelsea .

“Is the Premier League saying yes to us? No, absolutely not,” said Guardiola.

“I don’t know if we will play more games than in the triple year [2022-23] before the states. Maybe we play fewer games. Ultimately… the Premier League did not allow us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you. They don't postpone these games so that moment comes, 'Oh, what do we do?' I don't have an answer to that at the moment because I've never been there. I think we will make a common sense decision. We will see how the players are doing, the schedule, then we will decide.”

FIFA insists participating teams must take their strongest squads with them to the 32-team competition, which begins on June 15 and runs over 29 days, amid fears clubs could give older players a break after a grueling season. “Who are the strongest players? Which? If FIFA would tell me which players they think are stronger than the others. I don’t understand that,” said Guardiola. “We will go there with the whole team, we are not just playing one game. I don't know the competition at the moment, we're not looking for 11 players, we're looking for the entire squad. I don't know how the selection is that this player is stronger than the other.

“Maybe the strongest player among them is in really bad shape for many reasons: personal, professional, ailments, injuries. And we will play others. I won't say before the game which player I should play. I’ll decide, that’s for sure.”

Kevin De Bruyne will again miss Saturday's game against Fulham due to a pelvic injury. Not only did he miss this month's international break, but he has also asked Belgium to exclude him from next month's Nations League games in order to rest. “It's not a big problem, but it still doesn't feel good,” Guardiola said. “If you're not fit, rest because you'll be fine here and after that you'll be better off returning to the national team. That’s why, in my opinion, Kevin is the smartest, smartest decision.”