Man City next transfer step amid Julian Alvarez exit and Man United Community Shield hint

Manchester City will not be going all out for the Community Shield.

Pep Guardiola wants to win it, obviously, but not at the extent of risking their chances to win bigger and more important silverware. If that was the case, he wouldn't have allowed so many of his squad to have extended rests that has seen the majority only begin their pre-season this week.

City are a scalp for United, a chance for the Reds to claim back-to-back victories over their dominant neighbours and point to a team that is closing the gap on the Blues despite finishing lower than them in the league for the last 11 seasons. Erik Ten Hag's side are in better shape for this game and have more to prove.

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Because of that though, United will be useful to show City exactly where they are at in terms of replacing Julian Alvarez. There are a lot of goals, assists, and simply minutes to make up to cover the loss of the Argentine forward when he leaves for Atletico, as well as the obvious question of how to play when Erling Haaland is not on the field.

New signing Savinho can expect to take some of those minutes, while Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish will both hope for more than last season; Matheus Nunes should expect a better showing this season in midfield. Then there are Oscar Bobb and James McAtee, two homegrown academy graduates that could make a persuasive enough case that, on top of the more senior options, they deserve the platform to be given a greater responsibility.

Both have played plenty on the summer tour and will have hopes of starting in the Community Shield given the majority