Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to switch off and enjoy the rest at the start of this week, before returning for what he hopes will be a demanding nine weeks.

Manchester City have no mid-week game this week, so Guardiola has given his squad three days off to rest and recharge batteries before returning to training ahead of next weekend’s game against Southampton.

“They need to rest,” Guardiola said of the time off he has granted his squad.

“I was on holiday in my hometown in Catalonia [during the international break] but they were in national team and after that if you continue Champions League or FA Cup you have a lot of games, so stay away and then three days to prepare Southampton, Bayern Munich, Leicester, Sheffield United, Arsenal.”