Manchester City legend issues huge support in favour of 2025 FIFA Club World Cup | OneFootball

One of Manchester City’s most prominent figures in the club’s history has issued his unwavering support in favour of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Pep Guardiola and his players will partake in the somewhat-controversial tournament in the United States next summer, having qualified for the competition by winning the UEFA Champions League in 2023.

Having gone on to claim the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in the club’s history in Saudi Arabia in December 2023, City became the final winners of the tournament before its restructuring, expansion, and launch in the United States next summer.

Whilst many are looking forward to a new brand of competition brought to the global stage, others have been critical of the demands being placed on players and football clubs, with the tournament kicking off just weeks after the final game scheduled in European competition.

Speaking to reporters and previewing the tournament which will feature his former club and reigning Premier League champions Manchester City, Sergio Aguero predicted that next summer’s competition will be “an amazing tournament”.

“Firstly, it is great fun to watch the best teams playing in one place, and competing against each other, while giving other regions the chance to compete against European sides,” Aguero said this week.

“I think that it will be beautiful for both spectators and for the players themselves. The teams are performing very well, and whenever they play those matches, they end up being very fun to watch.”

Commenting on the widely-discussed issue of fatigue and growing workload within the game, Sergio Aguero said, “I believe it won’t be a problem for the players, as they are used to competing in World Cups, the Copa América, the Euros or the CONCACAF [Gold Cup].

“They are prepared and they are used to pre-seasons, so, in that sense of being locked together for a month, we have done it since we were eight years old… This is something new, similar to representing your country in a FIFA World Cup.

“So, it’s something new that every player will want to win, that’s evident, but I think that it’s something new that they will focus on becoming the first team to win this tournament.”

The Argentine football icon closed, “I think it will be an amazing tournament, tightly contested between the big teams, as it is always great to be a pioneer, to be the Club World Cup champion, as well as wearing the badge to show that you are the reigning champion.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been openly critical of the tournament being expanded, insisted that clubs like the reigning Premier League champions face the prospect of a 70-game season and their calendar replicating an NBA schedule.

“Maybe we go to the [FIFA Club] World Cup, arriving in the last stages of competitions and we’re going to play almost 70 games! 70 games is like NBA, but in the NBA they have four months holidays, and we have three weeks,” the Catalan tactician explained.

Elsewhere and the tournament Stateside is already being targeted by Manchester City’s Rodri as a potential return date to action, as the Ballon d’Or winner continues to recover from a double knee injury that ruled him out of action for the remainder of the domestic season.