Sky Blue News: Conti Preview, Perrone Soon Come, Haaland!, and More...

Manchester City Women are away to Bristol City in a Conti Cup this evening. The Men are gearing up for an FA Cup match with Arsenal FC. Sky Blue News has all the latest to get your matchday started.

Report: Pep Guardiola Wants Benfica Midfielder Enzo Fernandez - Elliot Thompson - City Transfer Room

Plenty of the big sides across Europe have supposedly shown a strong interest in the 22-year-old with the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Liverpool all being names linked with Fernandez.

However according to Fichajes Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants his side to be involved in the conversation as he wants a midfielder to rotate with Rodri due to the fact Kalvin Phillips hasn’t lived up to expectations.

He will also fill the hole that may be left if Ilkay Gundogan doesn’t renew his contract at the Premier League Champions with the midfield being prioritised in the summer.

Bristol City Women v Manchester City Women: League Cup Preview, News and Prediction - Manc Pete - Bitter and Blue

Wednesday’s meeting will be the first between the two sides since March 2021 when the blues won 3-0 at Twerton Park. Caroline Weir, Ellen White and Sam Mewis were all on the scoresheet that evening and City will be hoping for a similar result on Wednesday.

The blues go into the match on the back of a 13-match unbeaten run that has seen the girls win 11 and draw just two. Bristol City are currently second in the table, one point behind the leaders London City with a game in hand. Their match with the leaders at the weekend was postponed. The home side have won three and drawn one of their last four, and have lost just once at home this season - 1-0 to Birmingham City.

The City girls must pick themselves up after losing ground in the WSL at the weekend. After sitting just three points behind United, Saturday’s home draw with Aston Villa, together with the reds 1-0 win at Reading sent them to the top of the table and five clear of the blues.

Premier League investigation into Man City now cold amid Man United and Liverpool sales - Freddie Pye - City Xtra

The report offers a reminder of the situation, stating that both Manchester United and Liverpool were among the voices calling for action against Manchester City and were thought to be key to a bid in 2020 to get the Etihad club banned from the UEFA Champions League.

However, as both clubs are now up for sale, the Mail writes that it now remains to be seen whether new owners of either of the Premier League giants will have the same thirst for sanctions on Manchester City.

Man City could get early Maximo Perrone boost as new signing struggles with Argentina Under-20s - Joe Bray - Manchester Evening News

Midfielder Perrone, signed for £8.2m from Velez Sarsfield on a five-and-a-half year contract at the Etihad, is Argentina’s number six at the tournament in Colombia, and scored in their opening game defeat by Paraguay. That meant that Javier Mascherano’s youngsters had to improve against rivals Brazil last night, but things didn’t go to plan.

After falling a goal behind, Argentina missed a first-half penalty, before Perrone gave the ball away in midfield to allow Brazil to break and double their lead.

Argentina rallied in a badly tempered second half, with Perrone, 20, tasked with trying to keep the crosses coming in to get back into the game, but despite their pressure, Brazil earned a penalty of their own late on to convert and seal the win.

Manchester City to offer Joao Cancelo in Rafael Leao proposal? - Darren Plant - Sports Mole

The Portugal international now has less than 18 months remaining on his deal and speculation persists over the next move of his career.

Earlier this month, Milan director Paolo Maldini appeared to be confident that last season’s champions would eventually extend Leao’s contract.

AC Milan’s Rafael Leao celebrates scoring their third goal on September 3, 2022

© Reuters

Speaking to Mediaset, Maldini said: “We are talking, there are video calls and we don’t necessarily have to meet in person. We will try to reach a solution.

“It seems that the two parties want it and now we want to try to close. Our will is there and that of the player seems to exist.”

Nevertheless, it appears that Man City are ready to remain involved in trying to negotiate a sale with Milan and tempt Leao to the Etihad Stadium.

According to Calciomercatoweb, City boss Pep Guardiola would be prepared to include Cancelo in a part-exchange deal.

WATCH: ‘We love you Haaland!’ - Man City youth team scream in joy after meeting Premier League top scorer - Mitchell Wilks - Goal

WHAT HAPPENED? Haaland’s stardom was firmly on show in the clip, which showed a group of children playing in City’s youth ranks encountering the Premier League’s top scorer and going crazy for him in rather wholesome fashion. They even burst into a brief ‘We love you Haaland’ chant.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The 22-year-old signed for City from Borussia Dortmund in a £51 million ($62.9m) deal last summer and has, to little surprise, taken England’s top flight by storm. Born in Leeds, Haaland has quickly become a cult hero at the Etihad Stadium thanks to his father Alfie’s links to the club as a former player. In just six months, he’s fired in 31 goals in all competitions and scored four hat-tricks in that time - the latest coming in a thrashing of Wolves. That latest haul means he has already outscored the last four winners of the Premier League Golden Boot award.

WHAT NEXT FOR HAALAND? Goals haven’t been a problem for the imposing Norway international, but City have stuttered around him at times in his maiden season. He’ll need to keep finding the back of the net as they hunt down Arsenal in the Premier League title race, but will also have an eye on the return of the Champions League next month.

And finally... Celebrating the restart of MCWFC 9 years on.

THE NUMBERS SINCE MANCHESTER CITY’S 2014 RELAUNCH - George Kelsey - ManCity.com

MOST APPEARANCES

Unsurprisingly, it’s Steph Houghton who leads the way in terms of overall appearances for the Club.

The last founding member from our first season as a professional outfit, the captain has featured 218 times for Manchester City.

She is one of only two players to reach a double century for the Club, doing so in March 2021, and has found the net 19 times during that period.

Among the current squad, Demi Stokes’ 197 matches comes next in our all-time list, with Ellie Roebuck and Lauren Hemp also making over a century of appearances for Gareth Taylor’s side.

There you have it. Stay with Bitter and Blue throughout the day for all the latest and follow @BitterandBlue1 on Twitter for match reactions. Come on City!!