"I told the club I don't want that. I don't want to leave five or six players out. If that continues I'll quit. Reduce the squad and I'll stay," BBC Sport quoted coach Pep Guardiola as saying ahead of the match between Man City and Fulham this weekend.
In the match where Man City won 3-1 against Bournemouth on May 21, many first-team players were not named in the squad, such as Abdukodir Khusanov, Savinho, James McAtee, Claudio Echeverri and Rico Lewis. This is something that made coach Pep Guardiola feel unhappy when leaving so many players on the sidelines.
Coach Pep Guardiola is unhappy with the fact that many players have to sit out because Man City has a surplus of players (Photo: Getty).
The Spanish coach had to make similar difficult decisions regarding personnel, in the defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on 17/5.
At the beginning of the season, Man City faced a crisis when many key players were injured. The Etihad team then spent 219 million USD to recruit striker Omar Marmoush, central midfielder Nico Gonzalez, and defender duo Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis to strengthen the squad.
It is also because of this that Man City has had an excess of players up to this point, leading to many players being unable to compete for a starting position.
"I can't tell my players in the stands that they can't play. Maybe for three or four months we had a situation where we couldn't pick 11 players. We had a defender crisis, it was difficult. Then everyone came back, but next season, it can't be like that.
As a coach, I cannot coach 24 players and every time I choose, I have to cross off 4 to 6 because they cannot play. This will not happen again. I told the club that I do not want that," coach Pep Guardiola expressed.
At this point, Kevin De Bruyne is the only player confirmed to be leaving Man City this summer on a free transfer, while Jack Grealish has not started a Premier League game since April 2 and his future is also in doubt.
When asked for his opinion on whether the club will spend a lot of money on players this summer, the Spanish strategist said: "That is a question for the club's board.
But I don't want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If some key players get injured, we still have players from the academy and we will do that."
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-pep-guardiola-bat-man-tuyen-bo-muon-roi-man-city-20250523232343733.htm
Comment (0)