Man City have two priorities when Pep Guardiola and players return

Anyone getting shudders at the prospect of watching England again at the European Championship can be calmed by the idea of Manchester City being back in business in just a fortnight.

While most of the City squad has been at the European Championship, the first of the players who have been enjoying some downtime will start filing back into the City Football Academy the day after the Euros has finished as Pep Guardiola starts gearing up for another Premier League title defence. Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish will be among the few first teamers that will be part of the squad that plays four games in the United States before returning to the UK for the Community Shield against United.

While the numbers may be depleted, those that are there will be straight to work. And as they get started, there are two priorities for Guardiola.

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The first is to rediscover the spark that has delivered so much success to the football club during his time at the Etihad. He admitted himself after their fourth consecutive Premier League title win that he did not know where he would find the motivation for this season - but that he was sure that he would be able to.

Squeezed between various holidays has been a trip to Abu Dhabi to see Sheikh Mansour to discuss plans going forward, and Guardiola knows what is expected of him while he is under contract. The players will look to him to lead their charge as they look to be competitive across every competition again and make more history.

As Guardiola recharges, he also needs to pinpoint what is missing from the squad and what has been