'They will die!' - Pep Guardiola hits out at 'big bosses' at FIFA and Premier League as he says Man City will 'arrive late' for opening fixtures due to exhausted players

The reigning Premier League champions have travelled to the United States for their pre-season tour with a depleted squad as several first-team players - who played in international tournaments in the summer - are yet to join the team.

With a handful of first-team players at his disposal at the moment, manager Guardiola admitted that City will not be able to prepare fully in the pre-season ahead of their title defence in the 2024-25 campaign. The Catalan coach even hit out at the officials of FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League over their scheduling of matches while claiming that the players would 'die' if they continued to play so many games round the year.

Speaking to reporters, the City boss said: "We will arrive late but not [just] against Manchester United [in the Community Shield], against Chelsea and Ipswich too. We will be late. It's about trying not to drop many points, try to compete well. We don't have players because they have to rest.

"If the big bosses and all the institutions like FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League don't think about the players then the managers have to think about them, otherwise they will die. It's too much. That's why three weeks or one month is necessary, but the competition is there and you have to adapt."

He added: "There's no solution, there will not be a solution because there is no intention to find a solution. The clubs have to travel to show our brand around the world, to let other continents and places see our players, and we have to adapt.

"We would like to have had proper preparation but it's impossible because national teams deserve to play and every institution like FIFA and UEFA and local competitions want to defend their product and make games. We have a good squad when everybody comes back. We have three, four, five interesting [young] players just in case we need them. We will do what we have done in the previous seasons when we have had success having the same calendar as this year."

After back-to-back losses against Celtic and AC Milan, Guardiola's side will next take on Barcelona on Tuesday at Camping World Stadium in Orland, Florida.