Breaking News - World Cup stars return to Manchester City training

Manchester City's first game of the season may be just four days away, but for some of their first-team stars, Wednesday only just marked the beginning of their pre-season preparations.Kyle Walker and Fabian Delph were pictured arriving at the club's Etihad Campus as they returned early from their holidays in a bid to be fit for the start of the Premier League season.They were among a host of Manchester City stars to go the distance at this summer's World Cup and were not due to return until next Monday, but cut their holidays short in what will be a massive boost to Pep Guardiola. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Benjamin Mendy jokes around in first training session back... Manchester City boosted by early return of England and... From ball boy to wonder boy: Phil Foden was on the touchline... The secret life of Pep: Ex-Manchester City No 2 Domenec... Share this article Share Vincent Kompany, who helped Belgium to finish third ahead of England, was also pictured driving into City's training HQ along with Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Ederson and Nicolas Otamendi.Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and John Stones were not pictured, but are understood to have agreed to return as well in a bid to be fit for their opening game of the Premier League season against Arsenal on August 12.They are highly unlikely to be fit for the Community Shield clash against FA Cup winners Chelsea on Sunday, but Guardiola will be more concerned with getting their Premier League title defence off to a good start against a rejuvenated Arsenal side.  Even so, the Spaniard will want to get City back into the winning habit against the Blues, who will be managed by Maurizio Sarri for the first time during the season's curtain-raiser at Wembley.Guardiola underlined the importance of having his team back together as soon as possible, even if it means the likes of Walker, Delph, Stelring and Stones cannot feature in the match. 'We have just a few days to prepare for the first final,' Guardiola said last week. 'Most of them are coming back. It's important - we want players for the final.'It's the same for any manager, we prefer to be together but we have to adapt to the calendar. We have had one pre-season and now we need another pre-season before the start of the season.'  RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Benjamin Mendy jokes around in first training session back... Manchester City boosted by early return of England and... From ball boy to wonder boy: Phil Foden was on the touchline... The secret life of Pep: Ex-Manchester City No 2 Domenec... Share this article Share