Man City fans meet their favourite players before HK Football Festival

Players from top English and Italian football teams arrive in the city to take part in the Hong Kong Football Festival set to kick off at the Kai Tak Stadium.

Despite much fanfare, a number of the teams' most popular football stars are noticeably absent in their Hong Kong tour.

A sea of fans sporting Manchester City's iconic sky blue jerseys flood the Kai Tak Mall -- all hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite Premier League players.

Among the City stars greeting fans are Brazilian Savinho and Argentine Claudio Echeverri.

Crowds of Man City devotees wait patiently in line as they receive signatures and took photos with the players one by one.

City will be playing against Italy's Inter Milan this Saturday, with the players warming up at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground as they adjust to the city's weather.

But some key players are notably missing, including fan favourite Haaland and Spain's Rodri.

Both players are taking FIFA's mandatory 21-day break after their participation in the World Cup.

Despite the absence of Manchester City's mega stars such as Haaland and Rodri, local fans will get the chance to meet other legendary players including England's Foden and Italy's Donnarumma.

Many fans have made their way to Kai Tak earlier today eagerly waiting to meet their Premier League idols.

Of course there will be a little bit of disappointment about Haaland's absence.

But most of us understand that Haaland will be tired after the World Cup period.

For the whole team, I would love to see Foden and Donnarumma, because they are both really good players.

What brings me to Hong Kong is -- I'm actually from Beijing.

I came all the way here just to watch the Manchester City game.

I feel quite disappointed about Haaland's absence but I also think that {trim} if he had come here, it would be crowded all over the mall.

This as some people expressed their frustration over certain individuals using the Norwegian star's image to promote the event on mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu.

Organisers urge fans to purchase festival tickets via official websites, adding they have avoided highlighting specific players throughout the promotion campaign.