Norwich City loan target Callum Doyle featured again for Manchester City as they were beaten 3-2 by AC Milan on their American pre-season tour.
The 20-year-old played the full 90 minutes at centre-back, despite having been identified by the Canaries as a potential solution to their left-back problems.
Rico Lewis was preferred to Doyle on the left-hand side of the defence, while regular Josko Gvardiol came on for the final 16 minutes of the game.
Norwich have agreed a season-long loan deal for the English youth international, but are being made to play a waiting game after he was included in the Premier League champions’ squad for warm-up fixtures Stateside.
He played as a substitute in their 4-1 loss to Celtic on Wednesday as well as the Milan defeat, but Norwich remain hopeful a move will be signed off ahead of the 2024-25 Championship season.
Citizens boss Pep Guardiola admitted post-match that he had a squad in flux after major international tournaments in South America and Europe, and that his side weren’t likely to be ready until weeks into their league campaign.
“Josko played 15 minutes today, which was good,” he said. “But we’ll be late, so it’s just tor try not to drop many points, to try to compete well.
“Our players have to rest, so if the big bosses and institutions like FIFA, UEFA and Premier League don’t think about the players, the managers have to. Otherwise they will die.”
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup hinted at additions coming soon to his playing squad after Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Magdeburg, with his side still looking to recruit two left-backs before the transfer window closes next month.
Sporting director Ben Knapper has continued to spin plates throughout the transfer window, in which he’ll also need to make a significant profit from player sales.
Carrow Road departures for significant fees could help fund the search for a second full-back this summer, although there has been little tangible movement on the club’s highest-value players.
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