Manchester City have not included Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan in the travelling squad for their pre-season tour of the United States.
The Premier League champions will face Club America and Bayern Munich while in the US, but will have to face them without three key players.
The Daily Mail report that Foden, Stones and Gundogan have been ordered to join the Under-23 squad for their pre-season preparations in Europe, and while City have not confirmed why the trio aren’t with the first team, there are suggestions that it’s due to their Covid-19 vaccination status.
However, City are not the only side to have had pre-season campaigns impacted for this reason. Chelsea midfielders N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were left out of the Blues’ squad for their own US tour due to their vaccination status, while Crystal Palace are without several first team members for their trip to Australia.
City will play just two friendlies in front of match-going fans – both coming in the US – before they kick off their 2022/23 campaign. They take on Liverpool in the Community Shield at the King Power Stadium on July 30, and begin the defence of their Premier League title a week later away at West Ham.
