Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is the latest to voice his concerns surrounding the ongoing 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, delivering a not-so-subtle dig at the competition.
Ahead of Man City‘s round of 16 match against Al Hilal in this year’s Club World Cup, of which they won all their group stage games, the Catalan head coach has once again come out to criticise the increasingly congested fixture calendar.
His comments come after former Liverpool manager and now Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull, Jürgen Klopp, labelled the current off-season summer run of matches “the worst idea ever.”
Somewhat echoing his statement – or at the very least aligning with it (albeit indirectly) – Pep Guardiola gave his two cents also, claiming that the now extended, 32-team tournament could “destroy” his squad and their fortunes in the next campaign.
Clearly, Pep is far from the biggest of fan of the recently refreshed format, even despite having won the thing on four occasions in the past – the most recent being with Manchester City back in 2023.
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Reflecting on what impact he fears the Club World Cup may have on his team next season, Guardiola said: “I try not to think about it, otherwise I will be so anxious. We will rest [for as much time as] the Premier League allows us to.
“And game by game, month by month, we will see. And maybe in November, December, January, ask me, Pep. I may say: ‘So listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us.’ I don’t know, but it’s the first time in our [lives] that that’s happened [a 32-team CWC]. So we will see…”
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Unpredictable weather in the United States, where the action is being hosted, has also been the subject of outrage in some cases, with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca stating, “It’s a joke! It’s not football”, after a major storm delay mid-game pushed meant that one of their games took five hours to finish.
The 54-year-old also insisted that those who were against the tweaked concept “fought a lot” here in England, in UEFA meetings and so on, as was the case with the revision of the new layout of the Champions League, but to no avail.
Jurgen Klopp: "NBA player earns a lot of money & has 4 months of rest per year. Van Dijk didn't even have that in his entire career. Tournaments such as the Club World Cup cannot take place at the expense of players" [Die Welt]
Regarding Klopp, who set this latest chain of criticism, he claims that whoever wins the 2025 Club World Cup is ultimately “pointless” and will be “the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league.”
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In his eyes, the decisions are being made by people who have “never been involved” with the pressure of day-to-day life in professional football and the physical toll of multiple competitions, in particular.
As for who might win the 2025 CWC, it could very well be Man City for a second time, as the Blues are the only team remaining that has a 100% win ratio this year, having most recently thrashed Juventus 5-2 in their last game.
Nevertheless, it seems that the stance of Klopp, Guardiola, Maresca and more is pretty plain: this particular tournament will go down in the record books for the wrong reasons, and they won’t be happy until the format is revisited.
Do you agree with Pep and co. on the Club World Cup controversy?
Featured Images — Man City (screenshot via YouTube)
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Transfers: Manchester United reportedly in the race for Rafael Leao as asking price is revealed
Danny Jones
In the latest transfer news coming out of Manchester, Man United are reportedly set to make the first move in an effort to sign Serie A star Rafael Leao after AC Milan are said to have ‘offered’ the wantaway winger to Premier League rivals Arsenal.
After being linked with MUFC on and off in the past, this could shape up to be a tasty tug of war if all rumours are to be believed.
But a recent interview by Leao may have pricked up ears over at Old Trafford and Carrington:
Do you think there are some hints being dropped here?…
Speaking to London-born and now Manchester-headquartered (interesting…) streetwear and jewellery brand Cernucci on their new podcast, the Portuguese international confessed to presenter Fred Buckley that he spent much of his childhood watching Man United, and still does to this day.
While he also admitted he likes Arsenal, adding even more fuel to the fire of the links with the Gunners, he also named Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol; either way, the ‘Rossoneri’ are believed to be asking for between £43-50 million for the former Sporting and Lille player.
A teammate of his with the national squad and having starred for major European sides, winning silverware – a Serie A title and Italian Super Cup, as well as a UEFA Nations League with Portugal – he’s evidently looking to try and emulate his fellow compatriots’ success moving forward.
Now 26 years old, he’s at a crucial juncture in his career, and despite being criticised for his work rate and efforts off the ball at times, not to mention blowing somewhat hot and cold in and around a fair few injury problems, the next big money move feels almost inevitable as he approaches his ‘prime’ years.
As you can see, many Milan fans have seemingly turned on him already after he made his plans to depart rather publicly, which has also seen him pop up on the radar of several other Champions League competitors this summer.
One such alternative suitor outside of English football is Galatasaray, with multiple Italian and Turkish outlets claiming that the club are the only team to be drawing up a ‘formal proposal’ thus far.
Journalist Matteo Moretto does state, however, that no official offer has been made as yet.
Featured Images — Cernucci Podcast (screenshot via YouTube)/LHC88 (via Wikimedia Commons)
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A Greater Manchester run club is taking on a 24-hour ‘Everest’ memorial and charity challenge
Danny Jones
A Greater Manchester run club is set to take on an impressive 24-hour feat of endurance dubbed the ‘Everest’ challenge later this week, and it’s all for charity.
Yes, running on behalf of not only a nearby organisation but also in memory of a beloved native, this deeply moving event will see the group of Trafford runners going up and down hills for a whole day.
We’ve seen the huge growth of the flagship Manchester 24-Hour Run Against Homelessness over the past half a decade – which has now spread to multiple other cities – and it’s great to see similar formats springing up across the region.
Set up by Batch Running Club, who are based in Altrincham, the Everest challenge gets underway this coming Friday and will run (pun very much intended) into the weekend.
Sharing a lengthy post on social media, they wrote: “On Friday, 5th June at 6pm, our amazing running club will begin a 24-hour challenge running backwards and forwards over Moss Lane Bridge near Tesco in Altrincham.
“Our goal? To cover the equivalent elevation of climbing Mount Everest — at least once, maybe even more! We’re taking on this challenge to raise much-needed funds for Trafford Carers Centre in memory of the wonderful Jim Edward Parsons.
“A couple of years ago, as a running club, we chose to support Trafford Carers because of a personal connection within the Batch family. Bards, owner of Batch Bottlestore, saw first-hand the incredible support Trafford Carers gave his mum, Kirsty, while she cared full-time for his stepdad Jim.
“Their help made a huge difference during an incredibly difficult time and ensured Kirsty never felt alone in her role as a carer.”
Unfortunately, Jim sadly passed away last December, and so in an effort to honour his life and support the crucial care network that has not only aided local families but touched so many other lives in the process, they’ll be taking on the ‘Big Tesco Hill’ for 24 hours straight. WOW.
As the poster would suggest, it runs right past the main Alty Tesco. (Credit: David Dixon via Geograph)
Having been lucky enough to enjoy the downhill version of that very same hill as part of the Manchester Marathon, we can only imagine how difficult it is running back up it in the other direction…
Encouraging people to come along and join, or even just come along and support as volunteers and/or cheer on from the sidelines, they’re hoping to complete as many laps as time will allow and, more importantly, raise as much vital funding as possible.
They signed off by adding: “This charity is incredibly close to our hearts, and Jim will always remain at the centre of why we continue supporting Trafford Carers.”
We hope 2026 is just the first of what will become a worthwhile annual fitness fundraiser; you can donate to the charity run HERE.
Counselling with Trafford Carers Centre
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Danny Jones -
30th June 2025 
