Manchester City fly out to Asia tonight ahead of their pre-season tour, and the travelling squad will offer several hints about the future. The Blues head to Hong Kong later today for their first fixture against Inter Milan on Saturday, followed by games in South Korea against the K-League All-Stars and Atletico Madrid.
Enzo Maresca gets boost with six senior stars available
The makeup of the tour squad will be revealing, with Enzo Maresca shorn of several senior stars owing to the World Cup. However, the Blues boss will be given a boost with the availability of six stars who were in North America. Abdukodir Khusanov returned to pre-season training last week after being the only City player knocked out in the group stage. He will be joined by those eliminated in the last-32: Rayan Ait-Nouri, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Tijjani Reijnders and Antoine Semenyo, who will all be available for all three matches.
Absent stars and young prospects
Several senior stars will remain absent, with City players involved in the final weekend of the World Cup not returning to club duty until days before the Community Shield against Arsenal. This opens the door to several youngsters, and plenty of academy prospects will be part of the squad. The likes of Ryan McAidoo, Teddie Lamb, Oliver Whatmuff, Harrison Miles, Divine Mukasa, Femi Fapetu and Jeremy Monga could all be on the plane.
Jack Grealish's future key question
Perhaps the biggest news that will come out of the squad is whether Jack Grealish's name is on the list. If it is, then it will be the biggest indicator yet that he could return to the City fold.
