Premier League champions Manchester City will have a new look to their backroom staff this summer.
Junama Lillo’s recent departure to take over as first-team coach at Qatari club Al Sadd has left City manager Pep Guardiola looking for a number two for the fourth time since he arrived in the Premier League.
Domenec Torrent, Mikel Arteta, and Lillo have all filled the role of Guardiola's right-hand man and the City boss will next turn to Enzo Maresca.
It will mark a swift return for the 42-year-old Italian, who guided City’s under-23 side to a first Premier League 2 crown in 2020/21, a feat they repeated last season.
Maresca, whose most recent coaching assignment was first-team coach of Parma in his native Italy, has first-hand knowledge working with many of City's young players, including CJ Egan-Riley, Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Fin Burns, Romeo Lavia, Luke Mbete, James McAtee, Cole Palmer and Liam Delap. Most will either be loaned out or utilised to bulk up Guardiola’s first-team squad.
The departing Lillo moved to Manchester in June 2020 helping the first team win two Premier League titles and a League Cup.
“My time at Manchester City has been one of the most enjoyable periods of my career,” he told City’s website.
“To work alongside Pep, his backroom staff and this group of players has been a pleasure and I hope to have contributed in a small way to the fantastic success we have enjoyed on the pitch.
“I wish the club the very best and hope they can achieve all of their ambitions moving forwards.”
Man City season ratings
Guardiola was resigned to making further changes to his backroom staff when another coach to graduate from the successful City Academy, Carlos Vicens, was offered, and accepted a job as head coach at Dutch side Heracles Almelo.
However, Vicens and the Heracles performed a U-turn after they were relegated from the Eredivisie. Vicens will remain at City where he has made a name for himself specialising in designing set-plays which were extremely successful last season.
Guardiola will also still have the services of Rodolfo Borrell, who managed the side in his absence in an FA Cup tie at Swindon last season.
The new coach and players will have their first big get together when the champions return for pre-season training on July 11 before they jet out to the United States five days later where they will play Club America and Bayern Munich.
City will then face FA Cup winners Liverpool in the Community Shield on July 30. The game has been moved from Wembley to Leicester’s King Power Stadium in order to accommodate the women’s European Championship.
City have already been active in the transfer market, securing the services of forwards Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez from Dortmund and River Plate respectively.
They are also seeking a holding midfielder and a left-back. Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko are expected to be sold and there may be other high-profile departures as Guardiola revamps his squad.
Man City open-top bus parade
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
'Downton Abbey: A New Era'
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Rating: 4/5
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Background: Chemical Weapons
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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