Toby Camplin: City Watch

It’s now been two weeks since the 2023/24 season came to a close.

A few days ago I found myself in a position wondering what I was going to write about in this week’s edition of City Watch, however, the last few days have proved to have been an absolute rollercoaster of news regarding the ‘4peat’ Premier League Champions. 

Not only have we had a quite surprising England squad announcement, but there’s also been news related to Manchester City’s ongoing case of the 115 charges against the club as well as the usual potential comings and goings of the summer transfer window. 

There’s a few topics to cover, but let’s start with the England squad announcement, which, if you’re a City fan, came with somewhat of a surprise. The obvious first Manchester City pick for England manager, Gareth Southgate, had to be Premier League player of the season, Phil Foden, who I’d expect to be starting regularly at the tournament. Defenders John Stones and Kyle Walker will also be getting on the plane to Germany.

However, Jack Grealish, seemingly a regular and one of Southgate’s first choices, was not picked for the final squad. Despite this being a potentially contraversial decison, the winger only contributed 3 goals and 3 assists across the campaign. There’s an argument to suggest that Jack’s impact off the bench will be greatly missed in the team, but with a young squad competing at the Euros, was Southgate right to drop the former Villa man? The competition begins on Friday 14th June with England’s first game being played on Sunday 16th against Serbia.

Moving on from the Euros, this week., we’ve learnt of another development in City’s seemingly long-winded case against the Premier League in the alleged 115 charges against the club. It’s been revealed that the Blues will now be suing in relation to the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, with a 165-page document being submitted, describing how the rules brought in are ‘unlawful.’ A hearing on the matter started on Monday 10th June and will conclude in two weeks. With all the noise going on about the 115 charges and a hearing now set for November of this year that will last six, will the outcome of this affect the 115 later this year?

With the Euros starting in just a few days and the new developments in the charges, a quiet summer only managed to last a few weeks. By this time next week, the European championship will be well underway and we may even have a transfer or two to discuss.