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Manchester City make six additions to FIFA Club World Cup travelling squad – new players eligible to play
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have made six additions to their initial 23-man travelling squad for the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia this week.
The Premier League champions have travelled to the Middle-East for their debut appearance at the globally-recognised tournament, having qualified for the competition for the very first time through claiming last season’s UEFA Champions League.
Their competitive rewards for claiming the European crown for the very first time in the club’s history also saw Manchester City feature in the UEFA Super Cup back in August, as they went on to defeat Europa League holders Sevilla in Athens, Greece.
However, while an initial squad list was already submitted to FIFA prior to the start of the competition earlier this month, changes have now been made by Manchester City to bring their overall roster in Saudi Arabia up to 29 players.
As revealed by the Manchester Evening News’ Joe Bray this week, six Manchester City academy stars are now among the wider first-team squad that have travelled to Saudi Arabia this week for the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The six youngsters have travelled alongside an initial 23-man first-team squad submitted by Manchester City to FIFA ahead of the start of the tournament, featuring long-term absentee Kevin De Bruyne and current sidelined stars Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku.
Manchester City’s squad list has now been taken up to a total of 29 players, with Micah Hamilton, Mahamadou Susoho, Max Alleyene, Justin Oboavwoduo, Joel Ndala, and Jacob Wright all having joined the wider group in Jeddah.
Hamilton, Susoho, and Alleyene were also part of the Manchester City squad that defeat Crvena zvezda in the UEFA Champions League group stage last week, with the former pair having secured their first-team debuts whilst Hamilton grabbed his first goal for the club.
The Manchester Evening News have also clarified as to whether the new names in the squad list can feature for Manchester City in Saudi Arabia, with it being explained that players can now only be replaced in the event of injury or illness.
As such, should a senior Manchester City player be unavailable for the clash with Urawa Red Diamonds, a replacement is ready to step into their place on a game-by-game basis, while clubs have until 24 hours before their first match to make changes to their final squad.
Manchester City come into the clash against the Japanese side off the back of a hugely disappointing and frustrating 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, having led Roy Hodgson’s men 2-0 with 15 minutes remaining.
Should City fail to defeat Urawa Reds this week, then they will be placed in a third-place play-off match on Friday evening that will precede the showpiece final on the same night, with Fluminense or Al Ahly facing off in the other semi-final.
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