Pep Guardiola says Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish are both fit to feature for Manchester City when they take on Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup on Saturday.

Last week, City’s last Premier League game of the season was at Brentford, and De Bruyne, Grealish, Ruben Dias, and Manuel Akanji were all not there.

But City manager Guardiola said on Friday that the four players have returned to training and are expected to play in the first all-Manchester FA Cup final at Wembley.

“They’ve trained well in the last two training sessions. They are all of them, more or less, fine,” he said.

Guardiola also said that Stefan Ortega will start in goal against United instead of Ederson, who is usually his first choice.

Ortega has played in two of City’s last three league games and hasn’t let in a goal yet this season in the FA Cup.

It is a risky move by Guardiola, whose team needs two more wins to become only the second English club after United in 1999 to win the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League all in the same season.

“Stefan will be playing. This is how I’ve always been in the FA Cup. Guardiola said, “The custodian who has played in the FA Cup will play in the FA Cup final.”

Even though City won the league title with 12 straight wins and finished 14 points ahead of United, Guardiola doesn’t think Erik ten Hag’s team will be easy to beat.

In January, United beat City 2-1, making up for a 6-3 loss earlier in the season. In February, they won the League Cup, ending a six-year trophy drought.

Guardiola likes what Ten Hag has done in his first year at Old Trafford.

“I look at a manager on how his team improve. When you see a team better and better, in a league that is not easy, you identify a really good manager,” he said.

“He represents our profession in the best way possible. I can’t say we are friends, we are not in touch much, but I think United have an exceptional manager for many, many years.”

If City beats United, they can win the treble by beating Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10 in Istanbul.

But Guardiola told his players not to think about winning the Champions League for the first time.

“Thinking about titles, the second or third, we have to analyse the strength of our opponent, look at the weaknesses they have,” he said.

“Everything surrounding is normal, you cannot control it. It’s special for itself but the question what United have done for the past five months means they are a completely different team.

“They were better when we lost but we played good. I have the feeling that they have improved, the playing patterns are more clear.

“We’ve done really, really well against them during my time but it’s United, the quality of player has always been there.”

Photo by EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN