Manchester City have no long-term injury concerns and a deeper squad than at any point in the Pep Guardiola era.
The picture at Manchester City training these days is very different to a year ago, when an injury crisis that derailed the season was just beginning to take a grip of the squad.
Twelve months ago this weekend, Pep Guardiola fielded only seven substitutes in a Premier League win against Southampton, and two of those were goalkeepers.
A few days later, a cobbled-together City XI was beaten at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, and they would win only one of their next 13 games in all competitions.
Fast forward a year and Guardiola has a much deeper squad, having realised an unrelenting fixture schedule and the modern game made it impossible to operate with the kind of numbers he normally enjoys, while this October he is close to getting a clean bill of health for his players.
On Monday morning, 24 players were involved in a training session at the City Football Academy before the Blues jetted out to Spain for their Champions League fixture with Villarreal. That number was entirely made up of first-team players, with no room for academy graduates.
Abdukodir Khusanov and Rodri were missing, but both are expected to return sooner rather than later. It’s not impossible to envisage a scenario where every senior player is fit to train by the end of October or the start of November.
That would provide Guardiola with a few selection headaches, and he would have to disappoint some senior stars by leaving them out of matchday squads, but it would also provide the kind of competition for places and depth that the Catalan hasn’t always had.
Even with the 24 players currently fit, City can pick two entirely different starting XIs, with 21 of the 24 internationals. Of those who aren’t, Nico Gonzalez faces stiff competition for Spain and James Trafford and Nico O’Reilly have both been in England squads without getting on the pitch.
First XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri, Gonzalez, Reijnders, Foden, Savinho, Doku, Haaland
Second XI: Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Ake, O’Reilly, Phillips, Kovacic, Silva, Cherki, Bobb, Marmoush
If Guardiola had Rodri available, then he could come in for Nico Gonzalez in the first-choice team, with the former Porto midfielder then replacing Kalvin Phillips in the B team. Khusanov would also be pushing for involvement, either as a right-back or in the centre of defence.
It is another reminder of the depth available to City this season, a decision taken after last season’s injury problems. However, they have yet to face the same kind of headaches this season.
Of the 24 players training on Monday, only three of the four goalkeepers will be part of the matchday squad, and Phillips will also drop out as he isn’t registered in the Champions League.
UEFA rules also allow for 12 substitutes, so every member of the travelling squad could be involved. In the Premier League, only nine substitutes can be named, so if everyone stays fit, Guardiola will have more of a problem in the next few weeks.
But that is a better headache to have than the one he faced this time last year, when he was routinely only able to name five outfield players on the bench.
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