Manchester City are now in Chicago, Illinois where they have commenced the USA portion of their 2018-19 preseason training activities. City will be in the very first game of the International Champions Cup, when they kick off against Borussia Dortmund tomorrow night on Chicago’s lakefront.
There is certainly no shortage of topics to discuss today, so let’s take a spin through the latest news and notes items making the rounds on the internet this Thursday.
Manager Pep Guardiola and goalkeeper Oleksandr Zinchenko (originally Aymeric Laporte had been scheduled) met the media tonight ahead of the match. You can hear the full audio at this link. BVB press conference audio available at this link.
-Will Leroy Sane be motivated now by being snubbed from the German World Cup team? How will he handle that and will it affect his play for City this season?
“We are so happy to have him here,” Guardiola answered.
“I respect the decisions of the manager, Jogi has the right decisions and there is nothing to say. that’s happened, that’s why I never did it in the past – make comments about my colleague’s decisions. Leroy has to accept and move forward. He has the chance to show the national team and us to show his quality.”
In the BVB presser, Mario Gotze was asked about Sane’s omission, and if his inclusion could have made the difference. Read and hear what he said at this link.
-The only player purchased by City so far this transfer window is winger Riyad Mahrez. If you want to see his interview with the club’s web channel go to this link. You can see some b-roll of his training at Haas Park in Chicago on Thursday at this link.
Congratulations to Gabriel Jesus for being named the third most valuable player in the world under the age of 21. SoccerEx uses data from Prime Time Sport’s Football Value Index, a metric that encompasses both on and off the pitch traits, and here’s what they came up with.
Top 5 most valuable Under-21 players in the world:
1) Kylian Mbappe €192 million
2) Marcus Rashford €89 million
3) Gabriel Jesus: €88 million
4) Ousmane Dembele: €84 million
5) Malcolm: €64 million.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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