Pep Guardiola hands Manchester City fitness update ahead of Wolves opener
Before their 2025–26 Premier League opener against Wolves on Saturday night, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given a report on the fitness of his team.
After defeating Palermo 3-0 in their preseason friendly in Italy last week thanks to two goals from new recruit Tijjani Reijnders, City will begin the new season this weekend at the Molineux Stadium.
This summer, Guardiola has brought six new players to the Etihad Stadium. With their lowest league point total under Guardiola (71) and a third-place finish the previous season, all eyes will be on City as they look to recapture the Premier League crown from Liverpool.
After spending £31 million to join City from Wolves in June, Rayan Ait-Nouri has shown promise in preseason. This weekend, the Algerian international will play his first Premier League game for the Blues against his old team.
Ballon d’Or winner Rodri suffered a serious injury setback at the FIFA Club World Cup in June, which is expected to prevent the 29-year-old midfielder from being fully fit in the first few months of the new season. Rodri had only recently returned to match fitness after a protracted ACL layoff.
In the days following Manchester City’s away Premier League match against Fulham in 2024–25, Mateo Kovacic had surgery on his Achilles.
The Croatian is stepping up recovery but himself remains out of contention till October.
As he approaches the last year of his contract, John Stones has fully recovered from a frustrating 2024–25 season that prevented the 31-year-old Englishman from consistently making a claim in Guardiola’s starting lineup due to recurrent niggles and injury issues that cast doubt on his future at the Etihad Stadium.
Due to fitness issues, Phil Foden, Claudio Echeverri, and Josko Gvardiol were unable to go to Sicily for last weekend’s preseason victory over Palermo. Guardiola has provided an update on his team’s fitness in a press conference prior to their trip to Wolves on Saturday.
Guardiola has confirmed that Gvardiol and Kovacic remain injured and will not make the trip to the Molineux Stadium, with Foden and Rodri fit and set to be included in the matchday squad for the opening game of the season.
Savinho suffered an injury in the pre-season win over Palermo last week, Guardiola stated, with the 21-year-old attracting interest from Tottenham and set to miss Saturday’s game.
Ederson is also struggling with fitness, Guardiola said, and will not travel with the Manchester City squad to face Wolves as the 31-year-old himself faces an uncertain future at the Etihad Stadium amid strong interest from Galatasaray.
Kalvin Phillips and Marcus Bettinelli remain on the sidelines as the former remains surplus to requirements by Guardiola. Bettinelli was signed as Manchester City’s third-choice goalkeeper in June after the expiration of Scott Carson’s contract.
