Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones touch down in Croatia

Manchester City’s trio of first-team stars denied entry into the United States touched down in Croatia on Sunday as the rest of Pep Guardiola’s squad trained more than 5,000 miles away.

Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan are undergoing a pre-season camp with City’s development teams in Europe while the Premier League champions are Stateside.

The young group, led by Brian Barry-Murphy, are set to play friendlies in Croatia — matches that will include the big names who did not meet American entry requirements.

All three — who made a combined 115 appearances in all competitions last term — will continue preparations for another title defence as normal and should be ready for the Community Shield against Liverpool on July 30.

Guardiola’s 26-man travelling party kick off their tour against Club America in Houston, Texas in the early hours of Thursday morning.

City have organised just two friendlies — the second with Bayern Munich in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the early hours of Sunday morning — ahead of the new season.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is with the team in America despite the expectation that he will join Arsenal for around £35million.

Those developments will see City step up interest in landing a replacement at left back, with Brighton’s £50m-rated Marc Cucurella a target.

Meanwhile, City will be due up to £5m if Jack Harrison joins Newcastle — owing to a sell-on clause negotiated when he left Manchester for Leeds last year.