MAN CITY NOTEBOOK: Kyle Walker champing at the bit to help Treble bid, Rico Lewis happy to rile up rival fans… and Jack Grealish clears up Netflix doc doggy Poo-dunit!

Kyle Walker is desperate to get back into the swing of things and help his Manchester City teammates on all three fronts – and an indicator of that came last week.

The hamstring injury sustained on international duty has frustrated Pep Guardiola, who has made at least two pointed references to how it was tweaked during a ‘friendly’.

He’s now missed four games, and didn’t even travel to Real Madrid, so it’s not an insignificant knock.

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GUARDIOLA’S CIRCULAR DRESSING ROOMS CATCH ON

It’s been a busy week in the world of City Football Group. Not one but two new training facilities have opened around the world.

Palermo, who were acquired by CFG in 2022 and are sixth in Serie B, unveiled their first-ever training ground in Sicily.

And Melbourne City have also opened their new City Football Academy (CFA), complete with 16 dressing rooms, hydrotherapy pools and a theatre within the 84-hectare Casey Fields.

CFA facilities are uniform across the group – although Palermo have retained their traditional pink and black colours across the base.

Circular dressing rooms are common place, first suggested by Guardiola at City, and the club-specific quotes that adorn the walls are also seen elsewhere.

‘Only together are we Palermo,’ reads one quote at the Italians’ base.

GREALISH SOLVES POO-DUNIT

Jack Grealish doesn’t often speak to the newspapers, so when he does, you have to make it count.

Over he came at Crystal Palace, terrific value on his season as a whole, how he owed much to Pep Guardiola and that his form is turning.

The latter point was clearly evident at Selhurst Park, where Grealish was integral in all four goals.

And he then backed it up by being City’s most consistent attacking presence during the pulsating 3-3 draw in Madrid on Wednesday night.

But the burning question remained. His dog Skye, a star of the new Netflix documentary – which was viewed 1.8million times in its first week and nestled itself in the global top 10 – is allowed to roam free across City’s training pitches.

Grealish revealed that the cockapoo had done its business on one of them.

So, did the owner clean up after Skye?

‘No, I let the groundsman do it!’

Don’t say we shirk the big topics.

LEWIS AGGRO SHOWS HE’S GROWING UP 

It was all go pitchside in south-east London last weekend. Rico Lewis had scored City’s second just after the break and let’s say he enjoyed the moment, cupping his ear to the Holmesdale End. 

The celebration wasn’t really what you’d expect from Lewis, who is usually a quiet guy around the dressing room, but it proved how much it meant to him.

The home fans weren’t best pleased, hurling abuse, and that continued long after the final whistle. 

Lewis had been doing TV duties and, when he headed for the dressing room, saw one fan screaming ‘show some respect,’ with a big of extra choice language for good measure. 

Lewis brushed it off but the irate fan had to be calmed down by a steward. A seminal moment for Lewis: his first bit of aggro with opposition supporters. 

Proof he’s growing up!

STONES IN VOGUE 

During his chat with Andy’s Man Club, the suicide prevention charity, John Stones was asked for his guilty pleasure song. Vogue by Madonna, his daughter’s favourite.

BROTHERLY LOVE FOR NON-LEAGUE 

Julian Alvarez’s two brothers, Rafael and Agustin, were both in Madrid to see the Champions League quarter-final first leg and have embedded themselves into Manchester since the Argentine’s arrival.

But they both wanted to play themselves, so turned out for Abbey Hey, three miles from the Etihad in Gorton, and plied their trade in English football’s 10th tier.

Alvarez would regularly watch the pair, home and away, and his family went armed with packed lunches and Mate tea.

The Alvarez brothers had signed to Abbey Hey for a second season but it has now emerged that they are currently without a club. 

Presumably there will be plenty of local non-league sides who would fancy a bit of South American style among their ranks.

Source:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13297515/Man-City-notebook-Kyle-Walker-Treble-Rico-Lewis-Jack-Grealish-Netflix.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490