2024–25 Manchester City F.C. season

Manchester City

2024–25 season
Owner	City Football Group
Chairman	Khaldoon Al Mubarak
Manager	Pep Guardiola
Stadium	Etihad Stadium
Premier League	4th
FA Cup	Fourth round
EFL Cup	Fourth round
FA Community Shield	Winners
UEFA Champions League	Knockout phase play-offs
FIFA Club World Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Erling Haaland (18) All: Erling Haaland (24)
Highest home attendance	52,846 v Arsenal 22 September 2024 (Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	40,584 v Watford 24 September 2024 (EFL Cup)
Average home league attendance	52,586
Biggest win	8–0 v Salford City (Home) 11 January 2025 (FA Cup)
Biggest defeat	0–4 v Tottenham Hotspur (Home) 23 November 2024 (Premier League)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2023–24 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 season is the 130th season in the existence of Manchester City Football Club and their 23rd consecutive season in the top flight of English football. In addition to the domestic league, where they are competing as four-time defending champions, Manchester City are also participating in the FA Cup, EFL Cup, FA Community Shield, the revamped UEFA Champions League; entering the latter for the 14th consecutive season, and the expanded FIFA Club World Cup as winners of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League.^[1]

City began the season by defeating Manchester United 7–6 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in regular time on 10 August to win the FA Community Shield for the first time since 2019.^[2] On 30 October, they were eliminated in the fourth round of the EFL Cup by Tottenham Hotspur at their stadium in a 1–2 defeat, the team's first that season. This game marked the beginning of a recently unprecedented period of poor form for the team, which concluded at one win in thirteen matches, and included five consecutive losses for the first time in Pep Guardiola's managerial career, and the worst run for City since the 2005–06 season.

During the January 2025 transfer window, Erling Haaland signed a contract extension with the Citizens, tying the Norwegian at the club until 2034.^[3]

Supplier: Puma / Sponsor: Etihad Airways

Home	Home alt.	Away	Third	Fourth
Goalkeeper 1	Goalkeeper 2	Goalkeeper 3

The club ended the previous season with the main issue being whether or not Pep Guardiola would decide to extend his contract as manager beyond the end of the 2024–25 season after nine years with the club.^[4] Kevin De Bruyne was the only key player who would start the season in the final year of his existing contract, but there was also further speculation on the futures of Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva, as there had been in previous recent summers. Rumours also emerged that Ederson could be a target for Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr.^[5]

A total of 13 current City players were selected for squads for Euro 2024, the joint most alongside Inter Milan, and one player was selected for the 2024 Copa América. Six of those players reached the semi-finals of these competitions played in the week commencing 8 July; five of those would go on to reach the respective finals played on 14 July; and two: Rodri for Spain and Julián Alvarez for Argentina, would celebrate as champions. Rodri was also recognised as the Player of the Tournament for Euro 2024.^[6][7][8][9]

Players who had not participated in either competition returned to the club for pre-season training on 15 July to prepare for their forthcoming pre-season tour in the United States. Spanish defender Sergio Gómez had been the first senior player to be transferred, leaving the club after two seasons to join Real Sociedad on 12 July. The first transfer in was announced on 18 July when Brazilian winger Savinho joined from fellow CFG club Troyes, after a successful loan season at Girona, for a reported fee of £21 million.^[10][11]

City took a largely inexperienced squad on their pre-season tour to the US, selecting only 11 previous first team players who had not played at the Euros or Copa America.^[12] Their two Croatian Internationals, Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić, who had returned from Germany after the group stages, joined the tour at its mid-point.^[13] The remaining 14 players were allowed extended breaks and would join the squad after its return to the UK. However, this tour squad was able to perform well and only suffered narrow losses to Celtic and Milan, drew with Barcelona and beat Chelsea convincingly with a Haaland hat-trick. The performances of Haaland, Grealish and Oscar Bobb in particular stood out in these games with the latter demonstrating he was ready for more first-team appearances in the coming season.^[14]

In their first competitive game of the season, City won the FA Community Shield by beating fierce rivals Manchester United 7–6 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in regular time, thus avenging the defeat to the same side in the 2024 FA Cup final. United opened the scoring in the 82nd minute with a strike from Alejandro Garnacho, and City equalised in the penultimate minute of normal time with a Bernardo Silva header from an excellent Oscar Bobb run and cross. Although Silva went on to see his first penalty saved, an Ederson save against Jadon Sancho and a miss from Jonny Evans saw City victorious in the penalty shoot-out. It was the first time since 2019 that City had won the competition after consecutive defeats in their previous three appearances.^[2]

On 12 August, it was announced that Julián Alvarez would be joining Atlético Madrid for a reported initial fee of £64.4 million with up to £17.1 million in add-ons after two highly successful seasons with City. At the time, this was the highest transfer fee the club had ever received for a player and represented a significant profit for a player acquired for £14 million only two years previously. Alvarez had won the continental treble in 2023, as well as a World Cup and a Copa America title while a City player.^[15]

On 23 August, former captain İlkay Gündoğan returned to the club on a free transfer, signing a one-year deal after having spent the previous season at Barcelona.^[16]

City began their league campaign with three strong performances and victories away to Chelsea and West Ham United, and at home to newly promoted Ipswich Town. The games against Ipswich and West Ham United included Haaland's 10th and 11th hat-tricks since he joined the club, as he became the Premier League player to score the most goals (7) in the first three games of the season.^[17][18] The Blues led the league over Liverpool on goals scored at the first international break, with both clubs maintaining a 100% record and a goal difference of +7.

On 22 September, City played their first league game of the season against their closest title challengers from the previous two seasons and drew 2–2 at home against Arsenal. The first goal was Haaland's 100th for the club in all competitions, achieved in just 105 appearances. This equalled a record set by Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid for the fastest to reach this milestone at a single club. Arsenal were able to come back to take a 2–1 lead by half time, but saw Leandro Trossard sent off for a second bookable offence shortly before the break. A resolute defensive effort with 10 men and excellent goalkeeping from David Raya was almost enough to secure the victory and three points for the Gunners, but a scrambled goal from John Stones in the eighth minute of injury time saved the point for City and ensured they remained unbeaten and at top of the league by a point from Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Rodri had limped out of the Arsenal match following a collision with Thomas Partey. On 27 September, it was confirmed that the player had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and would miss the rest of the season in recovery. Guardiola said Rodri was "irreplaceable" during the previous season's title run-in. Rodri missed five games the previous season and City had lost four of them.^[19]

Manchester City remained unbeaten in all competitions up to the October international break. In the Premier League, they were positioned just a point behind Liverpool, securing second place and edging out Arsenal on goal difference. Their form extended to the Champions League, where they held the eighth spot in the new Swiss-style league phase.

On 7 October, City's legal case against the Premier League over rules on commercial deals involving club owners concluded with a tribunal ruling. The tribunal upheld two aspects of the club's complaints but rejected others. The case, separate from the ongoing investigation into City's alleged financial breaches, found that shareholder loans should not be excluded from associated party transaction (APT) rules and that some recent rule amendments should not be retained. Both sides claimed partial victory, with City pleased about some rulings and the Premier League relieved that most rules were upheld. The ruling could impact other clubs' compliance with financial regulations.^[20]

On 14 October, Manchester City's director of football, Txiki Begiristain, announced he would be leaving the club the following June after 12 years, being replaced by Sporting Lisbon's Hugo Viana.^[21]

On 28 October, Rodri became the first current City player to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.^[22]

City faced an injury crisis and a series of four consecutive losses before the final international break of the year, marking their worst losing streak since 2006 under Stuart Pearce. It was also the first time Guardiola had suffered four consecutive defeats in his managerial career. During this period, they were eliminated from the EFL Cup by Tottenham and experienced their first outright Champions League loss in over two years, falling 1-4 to Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. Additionally, this streak ended their 10-month and 32-game unbeaten run in the league with away losses to Bournemouth and Brighton, leaving City in second place, trailing Liverpool by five points.^[23]

On 19 November, it was widely reported that Guardiola had extended his contract with the club for a further year to 2026, when he would be able to celebrate the completion of his tenth season at City.^[24] Later that week, the club confirmed the extension was for 2 years, until the end of the 2026–27 season.^[25]

On 23 November 2024, City lost 0–4 to Tottenham Hotspur that marked the end of their 52-game unbeaten streak at home. It was the Citizen's first home defeat since November 2022 when Brentford claimed a surprise victory at the same venue. Despite having most of the ball possession and creating 23 attempts at goal, City were made to rue wasteful chances while their opponent on the day converted their chances clinically.^[26]

The club's poor run of form continued into December and included further league defeats to Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa; and a comprehensive Champions League defeat away at Juventus. At the nadir, City had just one win in thirteen games with nine defeats.^[27][28]

However, their form improved somewhat in the New Year with consecutive victories against West Ham and Leicester in the league and a comprehensive 8–0 victory against League Two club Salford City in the third round of the FA Cup.^[29]

As the January transfer window opened, it was rumoured that City would be in the market for an additional central defender to cover for the reoccurring injuries to John Stones, Rúben Dias and Nathan Aké; an additional defensive midfielder to cover for the long term injury to Rodri and an additional forward to support Erling Haaland as replacement for Julián Alvarez. On 11 January, Guardiola revealed that club captain Kyle Walker had requested an immediate transfer away from the club.

In January 2025, it was reported that Manchester City had reached an agreement with RC Lens and Palmeiras to bring Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis respectively to the Etihad Stadium. The deal for the former was believed to be £33.5 million while the latter £29.6 million.^[30][31] Both deals were confirmed on 20 and 21 January.^[32][33] It was also rumoured that City had agreed with Eintracht Frankfurt for the signing of forward Omar Marmoush on a five-year deal.^[34] That transfer was confirmed on 23 January.^[35]

As of 24 January 2025^[36]

No.	Player	Position	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	Contract end
Goalkeepers
18	Stefan Ortega	GK		(1992-11-06) 6 November 1992 (age 32)	Arminia Bielefeld	1 July 2022	Free transfer	2026
31	Ederson	GK		(1993-08-17) 17 August 1993 (age 31)	Benfica	1 July 2017	£34.9m	2026
33	Scott Carson	GK		(1985-09-02) 2 September 1985 (age 39)	Derby County	20 July 2021	Free transfer	2025[37]
Defenders
3	Rúben Dias (VC)	CB		(1997-05-14) 14 May 1997 (age 27)	Benfica	29 September 2020	£62.0m[a]	2027
5	John Stones	CB / RB / DM		(1994-05-28) 28 May 1994 (age 30)	Everton	9 August 2016	£47.5m	2026
6	Nathan Aké	CB / LB		(1995-02-18) 18 February 1995 (age 29)	Bournemouth	5 August 2020	£40.0m	2027
22	Vitor Reis	CB / RB		(2006-01-12) 12 January 2006 (age 19)	Palmeiras	21 January 2025	£29.6m	2029
24	Joško Gvardiol	CB / LB		(2002-01-23) 23 January 2002 (age 23)	RB Leipzig	5 August 2023	£77.5m	2028
25	Manuel Akanji	CB / RB / LB / DM		(1995-07-19) 19 July 1995 (age 29)	Borussia Dortmund	1 September 2022	£15.0m	2027
45	Abdukodir Khusanov	CB / RB		(2004-02-29) 29 February 2004 (age 20)	Lens	20 January 2025	£33.5m	2029
82	Rico Lewis	RB / DM		(2004-11-21) 21 November 2004 (age 20)	Academy	1 July 2022	—	2028
Midfielders
8	Mateo Kovačić	DM / CM		(1994-05-06) 6 May 1994 (age 30)	Chelsea	27 June 2023	£25.0m	2027
10	Jack Grealish	LW / AM		(1995-09-10) 10 September 1995 (age 29)	Aston Villa	5 August 2021	£100.0m	2027
11	Jérémy Doku	RW / LW		(2002-05-27) 27 May 2002 (age 22)	Rennes	24 August 2023	£55.5m	2028
16	Rodri (VC)	DM / CM		(1996-06-22) 22 June 1996 (age 28)	Atlético Madrid	4 July 2019	£62.8m	2027
17	Kevin De Bruyne (C)	CM / AM		(1991-06-28) 28 June 1991 (age 33)	VfL Wolfsburg	30 August 2015	£54.5m	2025
19	İlkay Gündoğan (VC)	CM / DM		(1990-10-24) 24 October 1990 (age 34)	Barcelona	23 August 2024	Free transfer	2025
20	Bernardo Silva (VC)	CM / AM / LW / RW		(1994-08-10) 10 August 1994 (age 30)	Monaco	1 July 2017	£43.5m	2026
26	Savinho	RW / LW		(2004-04-10) 10 April 2004 (age 20)	Troyes	18 July 2024	£21.0m	2029
27	Matheus Nunes	CM / AM / DM / LW / RW		(1998-08-27) 27 August 1998 (age 26)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1 September 2023	£53.0m	2028
47	Phil Foden	AM / LW / RW		(2000-05-28) 28 May 2000 (age 24)	Academy	1 July 2017	—	2027
52	Oscar Bobb	RW / ST		(2003-07-12) 12 July 2003 (age 21)	Vålerenga	12 July 2019	—	2029
87	James McAtee	CM / AM / LW / RW		(2002-10-18) 18 October 2002 (age 22)	Academy	1 July 2021	—	2026
TBC	Claudio Echeverri	AM / LW		(2006-01-02) 2 January 2006 (age 19)	River Plate	25 January 2024	£12.5m	2028
Forwards
7	Omar Marmoush	ST / AM / LW / RW / SS		(1999-02-07) 7 February 1999 (age 25)	Frankfurt	23 January 2025	£59.0m	2029
9	Erling Haaland	ST		(2000-07-21) 21 July 2000 (age 24)	Borussia Dortmund	1 July 2022	£51.2m	2034

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	From	Fee	Team	Ref.
18 July 2024	RW	26	Savinho	Troyes	£21,000,000	First team	[38]
23 August 2024	MF	19	İlkay Gündoğan	Barcelona	Free transfer	First team	[39]
30 August 2024	FW	67	Divin Mubama	West Ham United	£2,000,000	Academy	[40]
20 January 2025	CB	45	Abdukodir Khusanov	Lens	£33,500,000	First team	[33]
21 January 2025	CB	22	Vitor Reis	Palmeiras	£29,600,000	First team	[32]
23 January 2025	FW	7	Omar Marmoush	Eintracht Frankfurt	£59,000,000	First team	[41]
27 January 2025	DF	–	Christian McFarlane	New York City	Undisclosed	Academy	[42]
27 January 2025	DF	–	Juma Bah	Valladolid	£5,100,000	First team	[43]
Total					£150,200,000

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	To	Fee	Team	Ref.
1 July 2024	MF	69	Tommy Doyle	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£4,300,000	Academy	[44]
1 July 2024	DF	12	Taylor Harwood-Bellis	Southampton	£20,000,000	Academy	[45]
1 July 2024	MF		Dario Sarmiento	Tigre	£1,300,000	City Football Group	[46]
2 July 2024	MF	71	Lewis Fiorini	Stockport County	£1,000,000	Academy	[47]
12 July 2024	DF	21	Sergio Gómez	Real Sociedad	£8,400,000	First team	[48][49]
13 July 2024	FW	48	Liam Delap	Ipswich Town	£15,000,000	Academy	[50]
7 August 2024	MF	93	Alex Robertson	Cardiff City	£1,000,000	Academy	[51]
9 August 2024	FW	92	Micah Hamilton	Middlesbrough	£3,500,000	Academy	[52]
12 August 2024	FW	96	Ben Knight	Murcia	Free transfer	Academy	[53]
12 August 2024	FW	19	Julián Alvarez	Atlético Madrid	£81,500,000[a]	First team	[15]
20 August 2024	MF	67	Kane Taylor	Aston Villa	£750,000	Academy	[54]
27 August 2024	DF	7	João Cancelo	Al Hilal	£21,000,000	First team	[55]
30 August 2024	GK	83	George Murray-Jones	Nottingham Forest	£1,100,000	Academy	[56]
4 September 2024	FW	—	Filip Stevanović	Lommel	Undisclosed	Academy	[57]
Total					£158,850,000

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	Loaned to	On loan until	Team	Ref.
10 July 2024	GK	88	True Grant	Buxton	End of season	Academy	[58]
3 August 2024	DF	39	Yan Couto	Borussia Dortmund	End of season	City Football Group	[59]
6 August 2024	MF	76	Mahamadou Susoho	Peterborough United	17 August 2024[a][60]	Academy	[61]
6 August 2024	DF	86	Callum Doyle	Norwich City	End of season	Academy	[62]
7 August 2024	DF	74	Tomas Galvez	LASK	10 January 2025[b][63]	Academy	[64]
9 August 2024	DF	94	Finley Burns	Hull City	End of season	Academy	[65]
12 August 2024	DF	79	Luke Mbete	Northampton Town	End of season	Academy	[66]
12 August 2024	MF	50	Kian Breckin	Crewe Alexandra	21 January 2025[c][67]	Academy	[68]
16 August 2024	MF	4	Kalvin Phillips	Ipswich Town	End of season	First team	[69]
25 August 2024	MF	32	Máximo Perrone	Como	End of season	First team	[70]
26 August 2024	FW	37	Kayky	Sparta Rotterdam	End of season	Academy	[71]
30 August 2024	DF	70	Jadel Katongo	Peterborough United	End of season	Academy	[72]
1 September 2024	DF	78	Issa Kaboré	Benfica	6 January 2025 [d]	City Football Group	[73]
3 September 2024	FW	73	Joel Ndala	PSV Eindhoven	End of season	Academy	[74]
7 January 2025	DF	78	Issa Kaboré	SV Werder Bremen	End of season	City Football Group	[75]
12 January 2025	DF	74	Tomas Galvez	SC Cambuur	End of season	Academy	[76]
22 January 2025	DF	97	Josh Wilson-Esbrand	Stoke City	End of season	First team	[77]
24 January 2025	DF	2	Kyle Walker	Milan	End of season	First team	[78]
27 January 2025	DF	–	Juma Bah	Lens	End of season	First team	[43]

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	Subsequent club	Join date	Team	Ref.
1 July 2024	MF	61	Josh Adam	Wrexham	9 September 2024	Academy	[79][80]
1 July 2024	DF	—	Jamal Baptiste	Sheffield United	5 November 2024	Academy	[79][81]

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	Contract until	Team	Ref.
8 June 2024	GK	18	Stefan Ortega	2026	First team	[82]
17 January 2025	FW	9	Erling Haaland	2034	First team	[83]

On 19 March 2024, Manchester City announced they would return to the United States during pre-season, with matches against Celtic, Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea as part of the 2024 Florida Cup.^[84]

Manchester City v Celtic

23 July 2024 FC Series	Manchester City	3–4	Celtic	Chapel Hill, United States
19:30 EDT	Bobb 33' Perrone 46' Haaland 57'	Report	Kühn 13', 36' Furuhashi 44' Palma 68' Kwon  76' Lagerbielke  84'	Stadium: Kenan Memorial Stadium Referee: Ted Unkel (United States)

Manchester City v Milan

27 July 2024 FC Series Soccer Champions Tour	Manchester City	2–3	Milan	New York City, United States
18:00 EDT	Haaland 19' McAtee 55'	Report	Colombo 30', 34' Saelemaekers  73' Nasti 78'	Stadium: Yankee Stadium Attendance: 46,122 Referee: Serhiy Boyko (Ukraine)

Barcelona v Manchester City

30 July 2024 FC Series Soccer Champions Tour	Barcelona	2–2 (4–1 p)	Manchester City	Orlando, United States
20:20 EDT	Víctor 24' Torre 45+2' Casadó  55'	Report	O'Reilly 39',  56' Grealish 60' Susoho  70'	Stadium: Camping World Stadium Attendance: 63,237 Referee: Tim Ford (United States)
	Penalties
	Lewandowski Darvich Balde T. Fernández		Phillips Wright Fatah

Manchester City v Chelsea

3 August 2024 FC Series	Manchester City	4–2	Chelsea	Columbus, United States
17:30 EDT	Haaland 4' (pen.), 5', 56' McAtee  41' Bobb 55'	Report	Caicedo  14' Gusto  42' Fernández  45' Sterling 59' Madueke 89'	Stadium: Ohio Stadium Attendance: 71,280 Referee: Ted Unkel (United States)

The league fixtures were released on 18 June 2024.

Note: Home attendance figures have been sourced from Manchester City F.C. programmes and have been validated by the MCFC Communications Department. Erroneous figures of '55,017' as released by the Premier League are estimated crowds based upon an outdated capacity.

  Win   Draw   Loss

As a Premier League side, Manchester City entered the FA Cup at the third round stage, and were drawn at home to EFL League Two side Salford City.^[95][96] In the fourth round draw, they were handed an away tie against Leyton Orient.^[97][98]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

As a Premier League team involved in European competition, Manchester City entered the EFL Cup in the third round, and were drawn at home against EFL Championship side Watford.^[99] In the fourth round, they were drawn away to fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.^[100]

As the defending Premier League champions, Manchester City faced reigning FA Cup winners Manchester United in the traditional season opener. United previously defeated City in the FA Cup final earlier that year.

The league phase draw was held on 29 August 2024.^[101]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
20	Juventus	8	3	3	2	9	7	+2	12	Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded)
21	Celtic	8	3	3	2	13	14	−1	12
22	Manchester City	8	3	2	3	18	14	+4	11
23	Sporting CP	8	3	2	3	13	12	+1	11
24	Club Brugge	8	3	2	3	7	11	−4	11

Manchester City v Inter Milan

18 September 2024 1	Manchester City	0–0	Inter Milan	Manchester, England
20:00 BST	Dias  33'	Report		Stadium: City of Manchester Stadium Attendance: 50,922 Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)

Slovan Bratislava v Manchester City