Man City set to face sister side Palermo in Sicily during pre-season with inaugural Anglo Palermitan Trophy on offer for Premier League giants

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.

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.

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.

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.