- Nabeel
Troyes friendly cancelled
Manchester City have announced the cancellation of their friendly against the Ligue 2 winners, leaving them with just one pre-season game before their clash at Wembley against Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City side on August 7th (Saturday) in the Community Shield.
Pep Guardiola's side were scheduled to play the newly-promoted Ligue 1 side and fellow City Football Group club on July 31st (Saturday) – one week before the Community Shield clash against last season's FA Cup winners.
Recent UK government changes mean a five-day quarantine is imposed on those returning from France with immediate effect.
In their announcement, the club stated it explored all avenues to get the game on, but the recent changes by the UK government had made the required restrictions too difficult to overcome – Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News revealed that one of the avenues explored was the possibility of playing the game in Manchester.
This follows City announcing the friendly against Preston North End at the Academy Stadium having to be played behind closed doors as a precautionary measure after a number of positive COVID-19 cases were recorded within academy personnel at the City Football Academy (CFA).
Supporters will be able to watch the game against the Championship club with a subscription to CITY+, which is the club's content streaming service.
In some positive news, Bajkowski reports that Guardiola will be able to call upon the academy players that have been kept away from the CFA despite some being unable to train after the COVID outbreak – with a significant number expected to be included in the game, according to the report.
However, just one pre-season game prior to the Community Shield will represent less than ideal preparation for the Catalan and City as they prepare for the defence of their Premier League title.
Written by: @NA1907_
Follow our Twitter account for reliable, live updates on all the latest news surrounding this story and everything Manchester City in real time.