Premier League giants Manchester City will face Palermo in a friendly match. When talking about the form of the team's squad, Manchester City coach Guardiola said that he hopes Foden can participate in the opener of the new Premier League season in time, and also hopes that Rodri can recover better.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri, 29, only played three games for Manchester City in the Premier League last season due to anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus injuries in September last year.

Manchester City manager Guardiola said in an interview, "Foden is in good condition, but he injured his ankle before, so we let him rest for safety reasons. Rodri's recovery is good, but he was seriously injured in the last game against Al Hilal and has been recovering for the past five or six weeks."

"Rodri is back in training now and has been in better shape over the last two or three days. Hopefully, he'll be back to full fitness by the international break. Hopefully, he'll get some game time in the games before then. But the most important thing is to make sure he's pain-free because we don't want him to get injured again after coming back and then get injured again after coming back. We'll do everything we can to avoid that, and it's been great that he's been training with the team over the last two or three days."

In addition, in the first round of the 2025/26 Premier League season, Manchester City will travel to Molineux to face Wolves. Guardiola continued, "Can Rodri play the full 90 minutes? I don't think it's possible. As for Foden, I really hope so, but it will depend on his injury. But there is still plenty of time in this week, so I hope so."

"Kovacic will be out until September or October, but hopefully he can return sooner. Rodri was injured and out for six months. Others can play in this position, but they are more attacking and better at playing in the penalty area."

Guardiola also said, "Gundogan can play in this position, Reinders can also play, but I think when everyone is healthy, they will have more opportunities to play in the frontcourt, because we have Foden and Rayan Shirky, we have many options in attack."

"This is good for this season. I looked at the schedule and after September we will play a game almost every three days, so we will definitely need enough players by then."