Abu Dhabi: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is planning to take his players to Abu Dhabi for warm-weather training during a gap in the fixture schedule, ESPN FC and the Daily Mail newspaper reported on Thursday.
City, who were last in the UAE in January 2015 when they beat Hamburg 2-0 in a friendly in Al Ain, are set to travel to the homeland of their owners following the home Champions League game against Monaco on Tuesday.
They do not play again until an away Premier League game at Sunderland on March 5.
City had reportedly originally decided not to take a mid-season training break, but the free weekend has afforded them the chance for a few days away.
They had been due to play Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on February 26, but the game was postponed after the Red Devils reached the EFL Cup final.
City could have a hectic last three months, with fixtures in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, if they beat Huddersfield Town in the fifth round on Saturday.
After the Champions League second leg at Monaco, they play consecutive games against top-six rivals Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Guardiola took his Bayern Munich side to Qatar last year during the Bundesliga’s month-long break.
And he will hope the planned UAE stint will not adversely affect his City players as happened two years ago when they arrived back home a day before being dumped out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough.
