Football
Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC 7y

Manchester City to tour China, not United States, next summer - sources

Manchester City are planning to spend their next preseason campaign in China, despite manager Pep Guardiola expressing a preference to return to the United States, sources have told ESPN FC.

The City squad landed back in Manchester on Sunday after completing their three-game International Champions Cup programme with a 3-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur in Nashville.

Having overcome an opening-game defeat against neighbours Manchester United in Houston, City then recorded an impressive 4-1 win against Champions League winners Real Madrid in Los Angeles.

But although the victories and performances on the pitch impressed Guardiola, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach was also hugely happy with the facilities used by City during their 11-day stay in the U.S.

Twelve months ago, Guardiola made clear his dissatisfaction with the organisation of City's two-game tour of China, which saw a proposed derby clash against United in Beijing called off because of the state of the playing surface at the Bird's Nest Stadium.

That postponement saw City play just one game on tour, against Borussia Dortmund in Shenzhen, leaving Guardiola believing that his squad's preparations had been compromised.

Traffic problems, air pollution and intense heat and humidity during City's stay in Beijing also left Guardiola less than impressed, but with the Abu Dhabi-owned club attempting to grow their global brand and close the gap on their Premier League rivals commercially, Guardiola has been told that the club will play at least two games in China next summer.

City are also partially owned by the Chinese consortium CMC, who paid £265 million for a 13 percent stake in the City Football Group in December 2015 -- a deal which City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak said at the time would enable the club to "leverage the incredible potential that exists in China."

As a result, Guardiola will take his squad -- likely to be severely depleted due to players being rested after the 2018 World Cup -- to China ahead of the 2018-19 Premier League season.

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