Manchester City in talks over USA base camp for FIFA Club World Cup and could use Super Bowl champions’ setup | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City are reportedly in talks over securing a base camp in the United States ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players will have little time to recover from the struggles of the ongoing competitive season, with the club being rewarded for their triumphs of 2023 with a place at the newly-expanded 32-team competition.

The reigning Premier League champions will head Stateside for the revamped version of the tournament they won in Saudi Arabia back in December 2023, holding the title of holders after the competition was postponed in 2024 in the lead up to this summer’s edition.

Should Manchester City reach the final of the FIFA Club World Cup this summer, the team would have less than 21 days to prepare for the start of the brand new domestic season, and may even feature in the FA Community Shield depending on their FA Cup fate this campaign.

Pep Guardiola has already hinted at giving his players the maximum amount of free time and overall freedom got rest and recuperate at this summer’s competition, despite the obvious competitive element for the club and the financial rewards the come with that.

And it has now been detailed just how Manchester City themselves are getting ready for their bow at the newly-expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States this summer, identifying an east coast base with talks underway.

That is according to the information of The Athletic’s Adam Crafton, who reports that Manchester City are in talks with Lynn University – a private school in Boca Raton, Florida – as a base camp, and may use Super Bowl winners Philadelphia Eagles’ set-up before a game.

FIFA are said to have created a brochure distributed to Club World Cup teams containing potential training bases and hotels across the United States, but also gave clubs the option of directly contracting facilities themselves.

Clubs have reportedly been told by FIFA that the organisation is prepared to pay up to $15,000 as a daily rate to training sites, varying depending on quality of facilities and location, while FIFA will reimburse clubs up to $15,000 if they opted to make their own arrangements.

However, FIFA will only cover the costs for a base outside of their brochure for the group phase of the competition, according to The Athletic, with teams expected to pay for themselves if they persist with such a location for the knockout stages.

There will also be a daily contribution payment made by FIFA to competing clubs during the tournament of $38,500, according to The Athletic, which is intended to cover the cost of an average travelling party – around $700 a head per day for 55 people.

Speaking upon the completion of the group stage draw back in December, City Football Group COO Roel de Vries said, “We are so pleased to be in the US. We were in the US on tour last year and it was a tremendous success.

“If you look at the growth of soccer in the US and the growth of Manchester City’s fanbase here, we’re really excited to play here again. We also hope to see many of our fans from the rest of the world to come here and support us.”

Manchester City are due to face off against Italian giants Juventus in the group stage, having competed with the club in this season’s UEFA Champions League, with matches also scheduled against Morocco’s Wydad AC and the United Arab Emirates’ Al-Ain.