Pep Guardiola is seeking a postponement of Manchester City’s opening matches for next season but is concerned the Premier League may not be willing to accommodate the request.
Guardiola explained that City asked for the delay due to their participation in the Club World Cup, but the Premier League has reportedly declined the request.
The final of the 32-team tournament is scheduled for July 13 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, leaving a gap of four to five weeks before the start of the 2025-26 Premier League season, with three of those weeks designated as mandatory rest periods for players.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery,” said Guardiola. “Thank you so much.
“I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. The Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not.”
After discussions with officials from Manchester City and the Premier League, the BBC has learned that no formal request has been made at this time.
The Premier League has yet to announce the official start date for the 2025-26 season, but if past seasons are any indication, the competition will likely begin on 9 or 16 August.
The Community Shield, a fixture City has participated in for six of the last seven seasons, is expected to take place a week prior.
Both Manchester City and Chelsea will compete in the Club World Cup next summer.
Informal talks have taken place, with Premier League officials noting that the scheduling issue stems from an expanded international calendar, over which they have no control.
Pep Guardiola, along with several senior staff members at City, has acknowledged that, based on those informal discussions, the reigning English champions will likely have to manage the situation without any adjustments.
During the Covid-affected 2020-21 season, City and Manchester United were permitted to start a week later than other Premier League teams due to their involvement in the special ‘Super Eight’ tournaments that extended their participation in the Champions League and Europa League. This caused them to finish the 2019-20 season on 15 and 16 August, just four weeks before the new season’s kickoff.
Wolves, who played their last European match on 11 August, did feature in the opening round of Premier League fixtures, though their game against Sheffield United was delayed until Monday, 14 September.
FIFA, the global governing body, has instructed all teams competing in the Club World Cup to field their strongest available squads.
“They won’t postpone these games, so there will come a point where we ask, ‘What do we do?'” Guardiola added.
“I don’t have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense.”