Why French trialist Max Chabot has replaced Oliver Whatmuff on Man City pre-season tour

Why French trialist Max Chabot has replaced Oliver Whatmuff on Man City pre-season tour Oliver Whatmuff has not traveled to Asia to start his Stockport County loan early France youth goalkeeper Max Chabot joins Man City’s pre-season tour as a trialist Whatmuff’s early loan start prompted by an injury to Stockport County goalkeeper Andy Wogan Manchester City’s goalkeeping arrangements for the east Asia pre-season tour have shifted, with Oliver Whatmuff starting his Stockport County loan early and France youth international Max Chabot joining the squad as a trialist. The 18-year-old Whatmuff had been recalled to pre-season training at the City Football Academy earlier this month and was originally expected to travel to Hong Kong and Seoul as part of Enzo Maresca ‘s touring party before a change in circumstances at the League One club altered those plans. Whatmuff had already been confirmed as a Stockport County loanee for the 2026-27 season, reuniting with manager Jimmy McNulty who had worked with the goalkeeper during his outstanding campaign at Rochdale last term, in which the shot-stopper kept 18 clean sheets and produced a heroic two-save penalty shootout display at Wembley to secure promotion. Oliver Whatmuff recalled by Man City just days after Stockport County loan confirmed His early departure for Edgeley Park leaves Manchester City requiring a fourth goalkeeping option for the tour – a gap now filled by the introduction of an 18-year-old French talent who is in the process of completing a move to the club from Angers SCO but has not yet formalised his transfer. The development adds another interesting subplot to what is already one of the more logistically unusual pre-season tours Manchester City have undertaken, with the squad composition shaped as much by individual circumstances as by planning. Byrne and Bajkowski: Whatmuff starts Stockport loan early as Chabot drafted in As reported by Sam Byrne of the Manchester Evening News , Whatmuff will not travel with Manchester City to Asia and will instead remain with Stockport County for the remainder of their pre-season and the forthcoming campaign. Simon Bajkowski of the same outlet adds that the change of plan was prompted by an injury to Stockport County goalkeeper Andy Wogan during pre-season, which created an immediate need for cover at the League One club and led to Whatmuff being permitted to begin his loan agreement ahead of schedule. As a direct consequence, Manchester City drafted in Max Chabot as a fourth goalkeeper for the Asia tour – the France youth international joining the travelling squad as an international trialist while the club finalises the paperwork on a move that was reported on earlier this month following Chabot’s decision to reject a first professional contract at his boyhood club. The 18-year-old featured for France at the FIFA U17 World Cup and regularly appeared above his age group at Angers, playing for both the club’s U19s and reserve side before choosing to pursue his development in England. “It felt like home straight straight away” – Manchester City loanee’s rise to stardom as Brentford and Brighton linger What do both developments mean for Man City’s goalkeeping plans? Whatmuff’s early arrival at Stockport County reflects the trust Manchester City continue to place in a goalkeeper who has accelerated through the development pathway at remarkable speed, stepping from the National League to League One inside two seasons and earning the backing of a manager who knows his qualities well from the previous campaign. The emergence of Chabot as a trialist on the Asia tour offers the club’s goalkeeping coaches an early opportunity to assess a player expected to join the academy setup rather than the first team, with the high-profile pre-season environment providing a different kind of evaluation context than a standard training ground integration. Both developments sit within a broader summer of active goalkeeping management at the Etihad Stadium, with James Trafford expected to join Leeds United and director of football Hugo Viana understood to be working to identify an experienced back-up option behind Gianluigi Donnarumma before the window closes. The goalkeeping department that begins the 2026-27 campaign will therefore look materially different from the one that entered pre-season – a reflection of the sweeping nature of the rebuild that Viana and Maresca are overseeing at the Etihad Stadium this summer.