There will be no rest. EPL has rejected Manchester City's request to delay the start of next season

For quite some time, players from various teams have been complaining about the excessively congested match schedule. Aside from the large number of games during the season, they also face a shortened summer break. Due to the changes in the format of the Club World Cup, some players may only have three weeks of rest next summer.

In light of this, Manchester City approached the Premier League leadership with a request to delay the start of the season, either for all teams or just for those participating in the Club World Cup. However, the request was denied.

• Also read: An additional transfer window will be opened for clubs participating in the Club World Cup

Details: The final match of the current Premier League season will take place on May 25. After that, depending on their playoff progression, some teams could find themselves playing in the finals of the FA Cup, the Champions League, the Europa League, or the Conference League. And already on June 15, 2025, the Club World Cup will kick off. This tournament will have a revamped format and will run until July 13. Considering that the Premier League typically starts in mid-August, with possible preceding fixtures for the Community Shield or UEFA Super Cup, players may have no more than a month for rest.

In this context, Manchester City requested that the Premier League delay the start of the season for teams involved in the FIFA tournament, but their request was denied. It should be noted that, in addition to the Cityzens, Chelsea will also participate in the Club World Cup.

• Also read: Twelve stadiums. FIFA has announced the list of arenas that will host the 2025 Club World Cup

Quote: "Will the Premier League say 'yes' to us? No, absolutely not.

I don’t know if we’ll play more games than we did in the treble-winning season [2022/23] before heading to the States. Maybe we’ll play fewer games. In the end, the Premier League hasn’t allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you very much. They aren’t postponing these games, so it will be a case of ‘What are we going to do?’.

I don’t have an answer right now because I’ve never been in this situation before. I think we’ll make decisions based on common sense. We’ll see how the players feel, what the schedule looks like, and then we’ll decide" - quotes Guardiola from The Guardian.

Reminder: The 31st of 32 spots for the Club World Cup has recently been confirmed. Inter Miami secured their place by winning the MLS regular season and will receive a slot as the host nation's representative. The final spot will be taken by the winner of the Copa Libertadores, which is yet to be determined.