These Manchester United and City footballers could play together at Euro 2020
The Euro 2020 tournament finals are better late than never in 2021 and, from the 24 competing countries, 10 different nations are represented by footballers currently playing for either Manchester United or Manchester City.
The Euro 2020 tournament finals are better late than never in 2021 and, from the 24 competing countries, 10 different nations are represented by footballers currently playing for either Manchester United or Manchester City.
Premier League stars will have to put domestic club rivalry and local bragging rights to one side when they go on international duty. Fitness permitting, these Red Devils and Citizens players may well take to the field for their respective countries during Euro 2020 (UEFA has kept 2020 as the official name).
Spain
La Roja have won two of the last three editions of the Euros, but the current Spanish side has a very different look to it to the dominant force they were in world football between 2008 and 2013. United goalie David de Gea is obviously first-choice between the sticks.
He is joined regularly in Spain national squads these days by young City defender Eric Garcia, who has been of rumoured interest to Barcelona. Etihad holding midfielder Rodri and attacker Ferran Torres, signed from Valencia this past summer, should also see action at Euro 2020. Spain meet Poland, Slovakia and Sweden in one of the easier pools at the tournament.
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Portugal
Over the last 15 years, in particular, there has been a strong Portuguese presence in the Premier League. As the reigning and defending European champions, they too are a team in transition as veteran national coach Fernando Santos has brought fresher faces through from the Euro 2016 triumph. He needs to as Portugal play world champions France and Germany in their group this time.
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Star United midfielder Bruno Fernandes can look forward to playing alongside City’s Bernardo Silva in support of the great Cristiano Ronaldo. In defence, meanwhile, Ruben Dias has been a revelation since signing for Pep Guardiola from Benfica with full-back Joao Cancelo also a Portugal regular.
Netherlands
Qualifying for major international tournaments has been something the Dutch have failed to do in recent years, but they will be at Euro 2020. The spine of their side should contain two Manchester-based footballers in Donny van de Beek from United in the engine room and City defender Nathan Ake at the back.
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The Clockwork Orange have a seemingly easy Euros pool on paper which pits them against Austria, Ukraine and play-off winners North Macedonia. This is why they are odds-on favourites with online football betting sites to top Group C at Euro 2020, and 10/1 chances to win the tournament.
England
Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Scotland and Wales all have at least one footballer playing for either United or City that should be heading to the Euros, but the most obvious nation is England. Gareth Southgate has a wealth of homegrown talent and options across the two clubs, as he prepares for group games with Scotland, the Czech Republic and old rivals Croatia.
From Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling starting wide in attack to Harry Maguire and John Stones in defence, as many as eight players from United or City could pull on the Three Lions jersey for the tournament. Southgate also looks sure to include youngsters like Phil Foden, Mason Greenwood and Dean Henderson in his plans for the Euros.
Sport
New Amazon Prime Video docuseries to show Pep Guardiola’s final seasons at Manchester City
Emily Sergeant
A new all-access docuseries featuring Pep Guardiola’s final few seasons at Manchester City is set to air this summer.
Coming exclusively to Prime Video in the UK and Ireland, the four-part documentary is set to take Manchester City fans and neutral viewers alike inside the club as the players and manager – who delivered an era of dominance -make way for a new generation.
Filmed over the past two seasons, this is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football, and will offer unfiltered access to Guardiola, his squad, and the City boardroom.
After 10 trophy-filled years – which included six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, three FA Cups, and five EFL Cups – Pep Guardiola called time on his tenure in Manchester last month, alongside fan favourite players Bernardo Silva and John Stones, as well as Kevin De Bruyne the season prior.
This new docuseries was there to follow them every step of the process.
Fans can follow City from a disappointing 2024/25 campaign right through to a domestic double the following season, charting the raw emotion of a squad in transition.
The series is directed by Academy and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker, Kevin Macdonald, alongside City Studios’ John De Caux, and is produced by Kevin Macdonald for Plan B/KM Films and Gavin Johnson and Ged Doherty for City Studios.
“This is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football,” Amazon Prime Video said in a statement.
Joining Prime Video’s wide selection of sports programming, the series will be available to watch at no additional cost to Prime members this summer.
It’ll be ready to stream on 19 August.
Featured Image – Prime Video
Sport
Here’s our petition for ‘Wonderwall’ to become England’s new football anthem
Danny Jones
All things considered, England have made a great start to the 2026 World Cup, pitching themselves as one of the great entertainers this tournament, and the scenes of the supporters and players alike serenading an entire stadium with ‘Wonderwall’ after the full-time whistle gave us chills.
So why not time for a change?
After all, that feels a lot like what this World Cup squad is about: a new manager, new teammates, not clinging to the previous ways of playing – and perhaps it’s time to put ‘Sweet Caroline’ to one side.
Now, we’re by no means saying that we’re ‘done’ with the John Denver anthem that has been reborn as a Three Lions anthem, but look at how good it was watching England belting out Oasis with the fans.
“Today is gonna be the day that England beat Croatia 4-2”, as BBC’s Match of the Day cleverly quipped.
Obviously, we’re biased as Mancs, but we also think there’s something special about having that particular track feel so good to hear again.
As much as we love Oasis, for a long time, it felt like we couldn’t enjoy arguably their biggest-ever single anywhere near as much as we once did.
We assume it’s something akin to hearing ‘Mr Brightside’ non-stop for what felt like millennia, and in truth, hearing those repetitions of “ba, ba, ba… SO GOOD, SO GOOD!” over and over again at sporting fixtures beyond just national team games has taken the magic out of it at times.
Perhaps it’s just a case of saturation in certain settings and songs simply being overplayed – FIFA’s co-hosts over in the US certainly helped see to that when it came to ‘Wonderwall’ for a long time.
On the other hand, it feels like we’ve now come full circle; singing those famous lyrics at the top of our lungs in a sea of Mancs and fans travelling from all over to Heaton Park for Live ’25 last year felt better than ever, and like we’d all remembered how great a tune it’s always been. So did this…
In fact, this felt so emotional that you’ve got people who aren’t even English praising both those on the pitch and up in the stands for the moment online.
Even the admittedly rather American Man vs Food himself, Adam Richman (though he does have British ancestry), felt compelled to write a moving response on social media: “Shut up. You’re the one that’s crying. Bravo, England.”
He’s far from the only one who was left bowled over by the atmosphere – us included.
What do you think? Is it time for a new go-to tournament anthem for the Three Lions moving forward?
The Manc -
6th January 2021 
