With some European leagues in the midst of a winter break, many of City’s loanees have not been in action this week.

Of course, England does not fail into that category so those that have to endure the British weather take the headlines.

Jason Denayer played the full 90 minutes as Sunderland drew 0-0 with Burnley in the FA Cup.

The defender, who has been deployed as a holding midfielder in recent weeks, played at centre-half alongside Papy Djilobodji and impressed with his positional sense and ability to read the game.

He made a fine block to deny Jeff Hendrick with 10 minutes remaining and was arguably the most impressive player on the pitch in what was a largely drab affair.

Elsewhere, Aaron Mooy came on after 67 minutes of Huddersfield’s game with Port Vale, with his side 1-0 up.

The game finished 4-0 and the Championship side can now look forward to Monday’s fourth-round draw.

George Glendon played as Fleetwood Town secured a 0-0 draw away at Bristol City, while there was good news for Kean Bryan, who delivered a promising fitness update on Twitter.

Wilfried Bony – currently on international duty – was substituted at half-time of the Ivory Coast’s 2-1 friendly in over Sweden.

Meanwhile in Italy, Joe Hart kept a clean sheet as Torino drew 0-0 away at Sassuolo - a result which means they are now 8th in the Serie A table.

In Spain, Samir Nasri was victorious, completing 90 minutes of Sevilla’s 4-0 victory at Real Sociedad.