Manchester United and Manchester City open the season in England with a Super Cup match. The teams have not met in the tournament since 2011, when Manchester United, still under Sir Alex Ferguson, epically beat their rivals 3:2, losing the match by two goals. But now it’s a new story. What interesting things happened between City and United in the off-season? And what do managers Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag say about the upcoming final?
Manchester United and Manchester City made three purchases between them
There have been no fundamental changes in the line-ups of Manchester United and City (yet). Among the first signings are defender Leni Joro (62 million euros) and striker Joshua Zirkzee (42.5 million euros). Unfortunately, the French player had already suffered a metatarsal fracture and was out for three months. Among Manchester United’s sales are: Mason Greenwood (Marseille, 26 million euros), Willy Kambval (Villarreal, 10 million euros), Alvaro Carreras (6 million euros) and Donny van de Beek (500 thousand euros). Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial and Brandon Williams also left the club as free agents. Not as big as expected when Jim Ratcliffe arrived at the club. Although Erik ten Hag is optimistic.
Eric is a witch
Manchester United Head Coach
“We are looking for players to strengthen in all positions. We need a plan to make sure we have a balanced line-up. You have seen the market, everything is quite quiet there. We made two deals. It is all a matter of time, market options, the right moment. I am not going into details about the work we are doing in terms of signing players. We know what we are doing. Just be patient and we will tell you at the right time.”
For example, Manchester United are in talks with Bayern to buy defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui. There is also talk of signing a central midfielder. The list includes Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Manuel Ugarte (PSG) and Ederson (Atalanta).
And here are some other changes in the club:
Manchester United is changing dramatically. in everything
Manchester City have only one transfer: former Girona winger Savio has joined the club (for 25 million euros). Although it is difficult to call this a complete purchase, it is more like transferring money from one pocket to another. Both Manchester City and Girona are part of the City Football Group. And Savio has been there since 2022, when he moved to French side Troyes (another club in the company).
Defender João Cancelo and midfielder Kalvin Phillips also returned to City from loan. They may be forced to leave again. It is not the most important players who have left Manchester City permanently: defenders Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton, €23m) and Sergio Gómez (Real Sociedad, €9m), as well as midfielder Tommy Doyle (Wolverhampton, €5m). Yan Couto, who played for Girona last season, has gone on loan to Borussia Dortmund.
The most important thing is that striker Julián Álvarez is leaving City. The 2022 World Cup winner wants to play a leading role at his club and play decisive matches, but Erling Haaland already takes his place in attack. Álvarez is therefore leaving for Atlético Madrid for 95 million euros, a record sale in City’s history. Well, in general, the club is having a modest summer in terms of purchases. Will there be new ones? Perhaps because of Álvarez’s departure.
Josep Guardiola
Manchester City head coach
“Other signings after Savio? Right now, no… If someone leaves during the remaining time of the transfer window, then it is possible. But if no one leaves, I think we will stay with the same composition as now.”
Read more about the City-Atlético agreement:
The most expensive signing of the summer. City squeezed the Spaniards to a historic figure
In the summer, Ten Hag renewed his contract with Manchester United and made peace with Sancho. And Guardiola helped Boston win the NBA title.
Manchester United could change their manager in the off-season. However, the management put their trust in ten Hag, although they negotiated with other specialists. The Dutchman knew that United bosses were in contact with Thomas Tuchel. But in the end the club extended Eric’s contract until the summer of 2026. “The analysis of last season showed that we have room for improvement. However, the analysis also led to the clear conclusion that Eric is Manchester United’s best partner when it comes to working to improve results. This line-up of players and coaches has already shown that they are capable of competing and winning at the highest level. We now need to do this more consistently. With a number of new additions to our squad, we look forward to working hand-in-hand with Eric to realise our shared ambitions at the club,” said Manchester United’s new sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Eric the Hague
Photo: Fake Images
Ten Hag himself was delighted to continue the partnership: “Looking back over the past two years, we can look back with pride on two trophies and many examples of progress compared to where we were when I joined the club. However, it is also clear that there is still a lot of work ahead to reach the level expected of Manchester United, and that includes competing for English titles and winning the Champions League. During my discussions with the Club’s management, we came to a complete unity in our vision to achieve these goals and we are all committed to walking this path together.” Although he noted that the 2023/2024 season was the most difficult of his coaching career. Ten Hag also said that until recently he did not understand the situation regarding his future. But then he got another chance to prepare Manchester United for the season.
In the summer, Manchester United made a couple of unexpected offers:
Summer transfers we didn’t expect at all
Another important news from the club was the reconciliation between Ten Hag and winger Jadon Sancho. Let us briefly recall what happened: at the beginning of last season, the coach claimed that the player was not trying hard enough in training. After which Sancho publicly stated that Ten Hag’s words were false. As a result, the coach removed the winger from the main squad. And in January 2024, Sancho went on loan to Borussia Dortmund. “We put it behind us and told each other everything. We both know the standards and how we want to work, how we intend to cooperate. For this we need a good team. We were just talking about standards and skills. I need good players to build a great team, and he is a very good player,” Ten Hag said as quoted by Goal.
Pep Guardiola reflected on the future at the end of the season. His contract with Manchester City expires at the end of the 2024/2025 season. But Pep’s words suggest that he is willing to continue working.
Josep Guardiola
Manchester City head coach
“I worked at Manchester City for eight years. I don’t intend to stay here much longer, but that doesn’t mean I’m leaving. That long at a club is an eternity. I want to be sure that my decision to leave or continue working will be the right one not only for me, but also for the club and the players. When I decide to leave, I will say so. Let’s see what happens. I don’t completely rule out the possibility of extending my contract. I would like to stay.”
Pep also attended the NBA finals. Guardiola attended the first game of the Boston Celtics-Dallas Mavericks series (107:89). Before the match began, he spoke with Celtic coach Joe Mazzulla. Interestingly, the specialists have been collaborating for a long time. Mazzulla said earlier that he studies the experience of other sports and applies the knowledge gained in his work: “I study Manchester City in depth. I follow Guardiola closely. I think he is the best coach in the world, regardless of the sport. His work influenced me a lot.” Joe even visited Manchester City’s base and the team’s training sessions.
Joe Mazzulla and Pep Guardiola
Photo by: Manchester City FC
Guardiola made a bow by attending Boston’s final NBA game. And he helped the Celtics with more than just support. “The Dallas Mavericks have one of the smartest defenses in the league. We had to be creative with our offense. Josep helped me with player placement,” Mazzulla said later.
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City and United have had poor performances in pre-season. But in the Super Cup they promise to fight for the trophy
During the off-season, Manchester United played matches in Norway, Scotland and the United States. In the first match, the Club lost to Rosenborg (0-1) and then beat Rangers (2-0) in Edinburgh. Next up are three matches in the United States: against Arsenal (1-2), Betis (3-2) and Liverpool (0-3).
Manchester United continued to play with the 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation that worked well at the end of last season. By the way, ten Hag now has the help of Ruud van Nistelrooy and former Go Ahead Eagles coach René Hake, who are part of her headquarters. But so far, the collective efforts have not yielded convincing results. The main thing is that everything goes well during the season. Before the Super Cup match, ten Hag is determined to win.
Eric is a witch
Manchester United Head Coach
“It’s about the trophy. We will field a team that can win it. But this is also part of pre-season, we won’t take too many risks with the players. We showed that we can compete with the best teams in the world and we can beat them. To achieve this consistently, we need the best form from all players.”
Manchester City played all four pre-season games during their tour of the United States. Guardiola’s team lost to Celtic (3-4), Milan (2-3), Barcelona (2-2, 1-4 on penalties), beating only Chelsea (4-2). It is important to note that a large group of City players played at the Euros, so Pep did not have all of them at his disposal in pre-season. And to sum up, the Spaniard was satisfied with the training camp: “Playing against such opponents is great, because they are a challenge. Each game was much better than the last. We played against Chelsea in the same way as against Barcelona, but the sensations were very good. Kalvin Phillips has improved, Erling Haaland has improved, Jack Grealish has played two incredible games. In addition, we are very happy that our young players have proven themselves: Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb. James McAtee has reached his potential. We, of course, want to win, but nothing will change in the results of these games. “The season starts in a week.” In his pre-match press conference, Guardiola said that midfielder Rodri and the England internationals will not join the club until next week. Pep also said that several young players will be on the pitch for the game against Manchester United.
Josep Guardiola
Manchester City head coach
“This is important, this is the final against Manchester United. But part of this process is to improve step by step. This is an opportunity for most of the young players to prove themselves in a big match. We will follow it. [трофеем]”
Let’s remember that in the last head-to-head meeting between the teams, Manchester United turned out to be stronger. Ten Hag’s team beat City 2-1 and took the FA Cup. Will Pep be able to take revenge and open the season with another trophy?
Manchester’s rival clubs bring another diversion to the transfer market:
It’s madness again at Chelsea! They are going to buy an eighth goalkeeper. Why so many and who are they?
