Hong Kong lessons: McAidoo shines as City's young guns test Inter

Pre-season opener offers a glimpse of City's future

Manchester City's pre-season tour kicked off with a defeat, but the scoreline was never really the point. Inter Milan took the Asahi Super Dry Trophy after a 1-1 draw and a 3-1 penalty shootout win in front of a lively Hong Kong crowd.

With Erling Haaland, Rodri, Nico O'Reilly, Marc Guehi, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku all still resting after their World Cup exertions, this was always going to be a night for the younger brigade to make their case. They did not disappoint.

McAidoo catches the eye

Ryan McAidoo came on at half-time and gave the 42,000-plus fans in attendance a proper look at what he can do. He almost scored a stunner, too — picking the ball up in midfield, skipping past his marker and a couple more Inter players before curling a low shot that came back off the far post.

Those who watched City's FA Cup run in January will have recognised the name. McAidoo made his first-team debut in that competition and scored in the 10-1 demolition of Exeter City. This was more evidence that his emergence was no flash in the pan.

Academy products everywhere

He wasn't the only one. Divin Mubama opened the scoring after excellent work from Antoine Semenyo down the left, while Max Alleyne, Mahamadou Sangare and Kaden Braithwaite all impressed against the Serie A champions.

Claudio Echeverri, who spent last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen and Girona, also played well. The Argentinian capped his evening with a panenka in the shootout — a bit of flair that suggested he's settled in nicely.

What's next?

Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes and Omar Marmoush have now linked up with the squad and are expected to feature on Wednesday when City face a K League All Stars XI. The tour then wraps up against Atletico Madrid on Sunday before a return to Manchester to prepare for the Community Shield against Arsenal on August 16th.

Nobody will remember this shootout defeat once the real business starts. But a few of the names on show in Hong Kong might just make themselves impossible to forget.