Manchester City pencil in Asia visit for 2023/24 pre-season tour

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players look set to make a trip to Asia this summer as part of their 2023/24 preparations, a new report has detailed.

Last summer saw the Etihad club take on two matches over in the United States, defeating Club America 2-1 in Houston, before moving over to Green Bay for a clash against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich – a match they won 0-1.

The trip across the Atlantic was Manchester City’s first overseas tour since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the season prior to last having a pre-season period hosted at the club’s training facility in east Manchester.

Ahead of the coming summer, and the potential for another pre-season tour, a new report has revealed that City bosses have pencilled in a visit to Asia with plans still yet to be finalised.

That is according to Jack Gaughan of the Mail, who reports that City have pencilled in visits to both Japan and Thailand for a summer tour in mid-July – with a fixture against sister club Yokohama F. Marinos likely to be replicated after they first met in 2019.

While it is clarified that Manchester City are yet to finalise plans for the upcoming summer, the Mail reports that the current Premier League champions are expected to spend longer in Japan, with the Thailand leg of the trip being an additional stop.

There had been suggestions earlier this week that Manchester City would make a stop-off in India this summer for what is likely to be a one-off match – a country in which the club has a significant and ever-growing supporter base.

Manchester City’s last visit to Asia came ahead of the 2019/20 season, when Pep Guardiola and his players took on four matches in total spread across visits to China, Hong Kong, and Japan.

The China leg of the trip saw City compete in the Premier League Asia Trophy, falling to defeat in the final via penalties against Wolves – that coming after a comprehensive 4-1 win over West Ham United.

City then made a trip to Hong Kong where they defeated Kitchee SC 1-6, before beating the City Football Group-owned Yokohama F. Marinos 1-3 in Japan.