PEP GUARDIOLA has left England pair Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker out of his 27-man squad for the Club World Cup.
The Manchester City boss and his players will board a flight to their training camp in Miami tomorrow to begin preparations.
But as expected Grealish and Walker will not be part of it – and will stay at home to focus on finding new clubs.
It is a case of out with the old and in with the new for the City boss.
Guardiola showed he is looking to the future with all of the eight players he has signed in 2025 – at a combined cost of more than £275 million – included.
But two of his stalwarts who played a key role in their historic almost two years ago to the day are in the cold.
Record signing Grealish – who turns 30 in September – was axed from the squad for the final day victory at Fulham last month.
Everton and Newcastle are both monitoring the former Aston Villa captain’s situation with a view to ending his Etihad misery.
Meanwhile there is no way back for club captain Walker who stunned Guardiola by asking for a move in January.
City were having the worst spell of Pep’s nine years in charge when the veteran full-back asked if he could explore other opportunities.
A loan move to Milan began well but ended in disappointment with the Italian giants deciding not to make the move permanent.
He has one year left on his contract and will have to return for pre-season training later this summer unless another switch can be fixed up.
Guardiola has also decided not to re-integrate another former Three Lions man – Kalvin Phillips – who spent last season on loan at Ipswich.
Meanwhile, James McAtee is also absent having chosen to play for England Under 21s instead.
However his four January signings – Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis – are all included.
And the same goes for the quartet of players who have arrived this week – Rayan Ait Nouri, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and keeper Marcus Bettinelli.
Guardiola’s squad will do some warm weather training in Florida before travelling to Philadelphia for the first game in their defence of the trophy.
They face Moroccan side Wydad AC before tackling Al Ain and Juventus in their other group fixtures.
Dutch midfielder Reijnders became the latest signing to be unveiled by City today – moving from Milan for an intial £46.5 million.
He was voted the best midfielder in Italian football last season but admitted he needed to test himself in the Prem.
Reijnders – who has signed a five year deal – said: “It was a big honour – especially because we had a difficult season.
“To still be crowned the best midfielder of the season, I was very happy with that prize.”
“But everybody knows this is the biggest competition in the world. If you saw last season how many clubs were fighting for the top places – the level is incredibly high.
“It’s a boy’s dream to play in the Premier League. I want to feel the intensity and energy of playing in the Premier League.”
City also look to have beaten off rivals Arsenal and Villa in the race for the signature of Norwegian starlet Sverre Nypan.
The Etihad club insisted they were not interested in the Rosenborg midfielder, 18, earlier this year but they have now made their move.
An £11 million deal is being finalised but the plan would be to send him out on loan next season – possibly to sister club Girona.
Walker’s Club World Cup snub comes as Thomas Tuchel warned his England stars they MUST play regularly at the start of this season.
And the Three Lions boss called on right-back Walker to sort out his future.
Tuchel has his finger crossed Trent Alexander-Arnold, who barely played in this latest camp, can hit the ground running at Real Madrid after leaving Liverpool.
The German coach said: “For sure, I hope everyone will be settled at their clubs.
“That everyone gets his place back at any club where they play. I just said it to the players.
“At the moment, you see a lack of rhythm in Kyle because he did not play the last matches, not many minutes for AC Milan.
“And after his broken elbow, he lost his rhythm and that’s what you felt in this camp.”
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