City, who won their first Champions League title in June, will kick off their 2023-24 season against runners-up Arsenal on Sunday in the traditional curtain-raiser to the Premier League season. "The situation that we are in, we finished (last season) two weeks later than Arsenal and we start (this season) two weeks later. Arsenal have bought a really good player," Guardiola said. Guardiola reiterated his desire to keep England defender Kyle Walker, who has a year left on his City contract, amid interest from German giants Bayern Munich. Guardiola said Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol, who is set to join City from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, is undergoing his medical test.

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Persons: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City's Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, Kim Kyung, Mikel Arteta's, Guardiola, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Rice, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Kyle, Bernardo, Silva, Josko Gvardiol, Pearl Josephine Nazare, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Soccer Football, Yokohama F Marinos, Manchester City, Japan, Manchester, Arsenal, Community, City, Champions League, FA, Premier League, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, West Ham United, Chelsea, Ajax Amsterdam, England, Bayern Munich, LaLiga, Barcelona, Croatia, Bundesliga, RB Leipzig, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, London, West, Portuguese, Bengaluru