Manchester City will have the chance to win silverware before the 2025-26 season has even begun after the announcement of a brand new trophy.
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Man City book pre-season gameSpecial trophy on offer in PalermoNo time for any other friendliesFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
A week before their Premier League campaign gets underway against Wolves, Manchester City will travel to Sicily for what is the only pre-season friendly on their calendar. Palermo are the opponents on August 9 at Renzo Barbera Stadium. The winner will lift the Anglo Palermitan Trophy.
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Palermo are part of the wider City Football Group, joining the family in 2022. The Serie B club is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year and the Anglo Palermitan Trophy is intended as a tribute to their first ever match, which was played against a group of British sailors in 1900. City are an obvious choice as the invited guest, and have played other CFG members over the years: Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos and Girona.
DID YOU KNOW?
Having been involved in the FIFA Club World Cup, City appear to have largely sacrificed a pre-season tour. Although Pep Guardiola's side were eliminated surprisingly early, failing to even reach the quarter-finals, they could feasibly have been involved until July 13, barely a month before the Premier League starts again. As it was, their last game was on June 30, which still leaves precious little time to rest and recover.
AFPWHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY?
City players are expected to report for pre-season on July 28. That date is 12 days before they are in action in Palermo, but only four weeks after their marathon 2024-25 season finally ended.