3 Manchester City Players to Watch in International Action This Week

Another international period is upon us and 13 Manchester City players will now be preparing to link up with their national sides.

With City's season now focused on securing second in the league after slipping behind Chelsea and exiting the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona, it will likely be a relief to some of the players to get away from the focus and scrutiny of the club scene and enjoy something a little different.

Here are three players to watch over the coming week.

1. James Milner

James Milner, whose contract at City is up at the end of the season, has been selected for England, who play their crucial European Championships qualifier with Lithuania on Friday and a friendly with Italy four days later.

It is perhaps his England prospects which are the driving force behind Milner stalling on a new deal. He feels somewhat underused by City, especially last season, when he was too often a substitute.

He’s featured far more during the current campaign, with manager Manuel Pellegrini seemingly now more aware of the quality he brings. However, even now, when everyone in the City squad is fit, Milner isn’t a first XI player, and it will be that, rather than money, which would be at the heart of any decision to leave.

He has been one of City’s star players this term, operating in a myriad of positions and always with huge success. Freakishly fit and technically excellent, there’s very little he cannot do, something Pellegrini made abundantly clear in his recent interview with The Guardian’s Sid Lowe, saying:

"

It’s hard to leave him out. Respect, commitment and performance level: 10/10, fantastic. He’s polyfunctional: full-back—the only position he doesn’t like—attacking midfield, wide. I played him as a forward and the team averaged three goals a game. He gives everything. You leave him on the bench and he’s absolutely furious but watch him during the game: encouraging, shouting, supporting. And in the next training session he kills himself.

Milner’s a phenomenon, a guy with big balls and a heart this big.

"

He's right, but it may be too little, too late in terms of convincing him to stay.

2. Vincent Kompany

Perhaps the most intriguing situation facing the City internationals this week given the recent issues with his form is Vincent Kompany. The Belgium captain, who is in the squad to face Cyprus in European Championship qualifying Group B, has had a mixed season, with his form, by his high standards, way below what is expected.

He was dropped for the home win over Leicester recently after a series of high-profile blunders. For the first time in his City career, he was on the sidelines when fit, with question marks about his quality.

This international period provides him with a great opportunity to refocus, away from the glare of the Premier League and English media, in an environment he usually excels in.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

3. Wilfried Bony

After his first City goal in the win over West Brom on Saturday, Wilfried Bony now heads off to play for the Ivory Coast in two friendlies, the first against Equatorial Guinea and the second against Bolivia.

Bony had shown flashes of his capability in his early appearances for City, with his hold-up play, in particular, impressing.

However, having gone a few games without a goal, the pressure was mounting. Modern football no longer allows for bedding-in periods.

His goal Saturday, though, was superb, and he was one of the best players on the pitch. Intelligent, strong and confident, this was the Bony who City paid an initial £23 million for.

It will be interesting to see if he can take the feel-good factor from that game into the coming international matches.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.