Being the manager of a club that can afford to splurge a whopping sum and bring as many players as it wishes to, Pep Guardiola is facing the downside of the luxury. Following the culmination of the season's penultimate game on Tuesday, Manchester City's manager made it known that he does not want a big squad at his disposal next season. To stress how serious he is with this demand, Guardiola warned that he would leave the club if it overlooks his wish and still feeds him a huge squad to manage.
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Pep Guardiola Makes it Clear That He Does Not Want a Big Squad
Manchester City secured a handsome 3-1 victory over Bournemouth on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium. It was City's last home game, which means it was Kevin De Bruyne's last appearance in front of the home fans. KDB will leave Man City after the end of the season, thus, he is awaiting his swansong in the City outfit. Much like De Bruyne, a few others could also be shown exit door as the club endured a tough season. Consequently, Manchester City could have a busy transfer window. The club is expected to offload ageing players and at the same time, will likely bring in capable replacements.
However, the boss has kept his demand in front and made it known that he does not want the club to make a spree of signings.
“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.
Guardiola said that having a big squad brings the headache of keeping the players satisfied, thereby giving them a good amount of playtime, but it is impossible.
“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.”
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.”