Two new coaches named for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City backroom staff at FIFA Club World Cup | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will welcome two new names into their first-team backroom staff ecosystem at the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, it has been revealed.

The details have emerged in light of official confirmation from the Etihad Stadium detailing three exits from Pep Guardiola’s team of backroom staff, amid contractual discussions concerning the entire group over the next few days.

Wednesday afternoon saw Manchester City announce that Juanma Lillo would be leaving his role as assistant to Pep Guardiola, in what was his second spell with the club having ventured into management once more with Al Sadd in Qatar.

City state that the 59-year-old had expressed a desire to return to his home of Spain, while technical coach Inigo Dominguez would be leaving the club upon the expiry of his own contractual agreement.

As for Carlos Vicens, who held responsibility as a set-piece coach for Guardiola, he has been confirmed as the new head coach at SC Braga in Portugal, despite reports indicating that City made an effort to extend his agreement at the Etihad.

Now, with the FIFA Club World Cup on the horizon over in the United States, Manchester City have taken their first steps to reshaping their coaching structure under Pep Guardiola for the tournament.

That is according to the Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski, who reveals that City will use the club’s Under-21 head coach Ben Wilkinson and his assistant Craig Mudd at the upcoming Club World Cup following the changes made to first-team backroom staff.

It is explained that the duo will help to prepare Pep Guardiola’s squad for matches, with the Catalan expected to take a ‘large group’ to the United States in order to spread workload, including a ‘sizeable number’ of academy players alongside the usual first-team names.

Wilkinson and Mudd are reportedly due to help youngsters in the squad, with tasks for those players expected to include acting as opponents in training and filling out the group for recovery sessions.

Many of Manchester City’s first-team stars are currently away on international duty with their respective nations with fixtures scheduled across the likes of FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Nations League finals, and international friendlies.

However, the club are expected to reconvene shortly before their opening Club World Cup (CWC) contest in the United States later in the month before embarking on three guaranteed fixtures at the competition.

In the group stage of the first-ever expanded FIFA CWC, Manchester City are due to take on Italy’s Juventus, Morocco’s Wydad AC, and the United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain as they look to defend the title they secured back in 2023.