Pep Guardiola: Man City boss tells club he wants a smaller squad or he will quit if it stays too large | Football News

Pep Guardiola has claimed he would quit as Manchester City boss if he is given too big a squad next season because he cannot bear to leave a large number of fit players out.

City will go into the summer looking to rebuild an ageing team, with several senior players candidates to follow Kevin De Bruyne out of the door after the Belgian played his final City home game in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth.

However, Abdukodir Khusanov, Savinho, James McAtee, Claudio Echeverri and Rico Lewis all missed out on the 20-player matchday squad

After a season when injuries have hit City hard, getting the right balance of numbers looks a difficult one, but Guardiola – who has always preferred using a smaller group – said keeping things tight remains a priority for him.

Man City’s January signings:

  • Claudio Echeverri – River Plate, £12.5m (deal agreed in January 2024)
  • Abdukodir Khusanov – Lens, £33.5m
  • Vitor Reis – Palmeiras, £29.6m
  • Omar Marmoush – Eintracht Frankfurt, £59m
  • Nico Gonzalez – Porto, £50m

“I said to the club I don’t want that [a bigger squad],” Guardiola said. “I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don’t want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay.

“It’s impossible for my soul to [tell] my players in the tribune that they cannot play.

“Now it happened to add players immediately. Maybe for three or four months we couldn’t select 11 players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult. After, people come back but next season it cannot be like that.

“As a manager, I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six, stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club I don’t want that.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights from the Premier League match between Manchester City and Bournemouth

Despite the injury problems suffered this season – most notably the long-term absence of Rodri, who made his first appearance since September as a second-half substitute on Tuesday night – Guardiola said he would rather make up the numbers with academy players.

His assertion means City will have to trim numbers before bringing in any new faces in the next transfer window.

“If I have injuries, unlucky, we have some players for the academy and we do it,” he said.

“[We] cannot sustain for the emotion of the club, the soul of the team, [to] create another connection with each other that this season we lost it a bit.”

City needed to win on Tuesday to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in their own hands, and a draw at Fulham on Sunday should now be enough to make sure.

Omar Marmoush opened the scoring with an outstanding strike and although De Bruyne missed an open goal, Bernardo Silva doubled the lead before the break.

After City’s Mateo Kovacic and Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook saw red in quick succession, Nico Gonzalez got a late third for City before Daniel Jebbison’s stoppage-time consolation goal.

Pep: Grealish decision to come at end of season

Guardiola has said a decision will be made on Jack Grealish’s future at the end of the season.

The England international, signed for £100m four years ago, has fallen down the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium since his starring role in the 2023 treble-winning campaign.

The 29-year-old has made just seven Premier League starts this term and was not summoned from the bench during Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace.

That fuelled speculation he could move on this summer, but Guardiola insists nothing has yet been determined and discussions will take place between outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain, his successor Hugo Viana and the player’s representatives.

Jack Grealish celebrates after giving Man City an early lead against Leicester
Image:
Jack Grealish has barely featured for Man City this season

Guardiola said: “We didn’t talk, I didn’t talk with him. People don’t believe me, but these things belong to the agents and the club and Txiki, and in this case Hugo as well. Both will decide.

“What is going to happen will happen, but he has to come back to start to play minutes again.”

Guardiola accepts Grealish, who has two years remaining on his contract, will not be happy about his lack of action.

He said: “It’s not [only] Jack. There is not one player in my locker room, and I think all the locker rooms around the world, that is happy [when they] do not play.

“When the team is winning and winning they have to figure out how everything happens – but they are not happy.

“They are here to play and, when they don’t play, they are not satisfied. That is the normal position in all the clubs.”

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season

Watch more Premier League matches on Sky Sports ever before with 215 games live of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.

Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Barcelona concern as two suitors drop out of race for out-of-favour star

2 La Liga giants Barcelona have this week been dealt something of a blow on the transfer front. This comes amid confirmation that the two leading suitors in the race for Iñaki Peña’s signature have all but dropped their interest. That’s according to Diario Sport, who have on Tuesday provided an insight into the situation.

Hansi Flick’s stance confirmed as Barcelona youngster attracts Man City interest

1 Barcelona head coach would like to keep hold of one of the club’s up-and-coming youth talents, despite mounting interest in his signature ahead of the summer. That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who point towards Noah Darvich as the player in question. Darvich, for those not familiar with his name, is a versatile 18-year-old midfielder,

Pep Lijnders to Man City: Former Liverpool assistant joins Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff | Football News

Former Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders has joined Manchester City’s coaching staff, becoming Pep Guardiola’s new assistant. City have simultaneously announced the appointment of James French, who also worked at Liverpool, as set-piece coach. The pair replace Juanma Lillo, Inigo Dominguez and Carlos Vicens, Guardiola’s former assistants who left the club at the end of

Ranieri: ‘Italian slaves to tactics, I hope for another Leicester City’

Claudio Ranieri explains his man-management technique, complains Italian teams are ‘slaves to tactics’ and hopes there is ‘another Leicester City fairy tale’ in future. The veteran came out of retirement in November to rescue his beloved Roma, taking them from just above the relegation zone to a fifth-place finish. As planned, he then stepped aside

Napoli can try again for Garnacho after Manchester United decision

Napoli could get another opportunity to sign January target Alejandro Garnacho, as Fabrizio Romano claims Manchester United are now eager to sell. The negotiations had dragged on in the January transfer window already, as Antonio Conte pin-pointed him as the ideal replacement for PSG-bound Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. epa12092721 Napoli’s head coach Antonio Conte during the Italian

Lotito holds on to Rovella, pushes Spalletti and Gravina to resign

Lazio President Claudio Lotito reiterates Nicolò Rovella ‘is not on the transfer market’ and hints Italy coach Luciano Spalletti and FIGC President Gabriele Gravina should resign. The patron was attending the Festival della Serie A event in Parma today and spoke to reporters about last night’s debacle, where the Azzurri were swept aside 3-0 by

Official | Germany U21 striker Nicolo Tresoldi switches to Club Brugge

4 Hannover 96 have completed the lucrative sale of striker Nicolo Tresoldi to Club Brugge. The 2. Bundesliga star moves to the Belgian Pro League Champions for – according to transfermarkt.de – a transfer fee that could rise as high as €10m with bonuses. Tresoldi counts as one of German football’s more exciting up-and-coming talents.

Gary Lineker laughed at German response to Thomas Tuchel’s England job | Football | Sport

Gary Lineker was left chuckling at the German response to Thomas Tuchel‘s appointment with England. The former Chelsea manager took over from Gareth Southgate as the Three Lions’ boss last October. Tuchel, only the third foreign manager in England’s history and the first since Fabio Capello’s departure in 2012, certainly raised eyebrows in the football

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x