City's trip a gigantic own goal

While foreign media had the privilege of interviewing Ukrainian midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Chinese media could only listen to questions posed by City's own television station and were denied the chance to ask their own.

City press officer Alex Rowan blamed decision-makers "above his head" for the treatment. One fan, surnamed Zhang, reflected the widespread dismay of China's City faithful. "I traveled here to Shanghai from Hangzhou really early this morning, and I have been waiting here for five hours. I was so disappointed to not even get the chance to say hello."

The air of exclusivity was compounded when fans were excluded from an "open" training session, with just commercial partners and foreign media allowed to attend.

It was reported last summer that Guardiola had made clear his distaste for a preseason tour in China, instead preferring the United States, where City went last summer. British newspaper The Daily Mirror said commercial considerations were the only reasons for the visits to Shanghai and Nanjing.

Naming youthful starting XIs, the focus for City on the pitch was clearly just to get through the matches without sustaining injuries. When asked whether the team was taking the tour seriously, Guardiola replied with a curt: "As much as possible".

In stark contrast, Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo said of his team's time in China: "We're really satisfied to be here, we're very excited to see the country and the cultural sites. We are so welcome here."

Defender Conor Coady echoed his manager's sentiments: "The fans have been amazing for us. It has been great to meet them at events off the pitch and on the street. The way the people have taken to Wolves and taken us in, showed us their support... it's been fantastic."

Wolves could not have done more to engage with fans and even Newcastle, despite arriving under a cloud of off-field negativity after losing coach Rafa Benitez to Dalian Yifang, treated China with the utmost respect and dignity.

Both those clubs left with newfound respect and new fans; Manchester City left with neither.

Xinhua