Pep Guardiola has indicated that he will leave his position as Manchester City manager if the club provides him with a significantly larger group of players following the summer transfer window.
Guardiola expressed his frustration at having to exclude several key Manchester City players from the squad that achieved a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth on Tuesday. He conveyed his unhappiness with the necessity of leaving out a significant number of players.
Several Manchester City players, including Abdukodir Khusanov, James McAtee, Claudio Echeverri and Rico Lewis, were not part of the 20 man squad for Tuesday’s game.
Despite this display of the team’s considerable depth, which helped City move up to third in the Premier League and within touching distance of Champions League qualification, Pep has stated his preference for managing a smaller group of players.
Guardiola conveyed to the club his opposition to a large squad, expressing his unwillingness to consistently sideline five or six players. He stated that, “he would resign if forced to manage an oversized team, but would continue as manager with a smaller squad”.
He explained that, “it is against his core values to have players regularly excluded from the match day squad and watching from the stands”.
“Reflecting on a period where they struggled to field a full team due to a lack of available defenders for perhaps three or four months”, Pep noted the difficulty of that situation.
While acknowledging the subsequent return of players, the 54-year-old insisted that “such circumstances could not be repeated in the following season”.
In addition, Guardiola stated that “managing a large group of 24 players is unsuitable for him, as it would inevitably lead to him having to leave four to six players behind in Manchester for each game because they wouldn’t be selected”.
He emphasized that “he does not want this situation and has communicated this preference to the club”.
Following a series of significant injuries, Manchester City invested over £200 million in acquiring four new players during the January transfer window. Among the current squad, Kevin De Bruyne is confirmed to be leaving the club at the end of the season, and there is uncertainty surrounding Jack Grealish’s future with the team.
When asked whether his preference for a smaller squad, even after committing to the club until 27, signaled further departure, Guardiola stated that “the club would handle those decisions.” He explained his preference for a tighter group, saying “he doesn’t want 24,25, or 26 players available when everyone is healthy, adding draw upon academy players if injuries occurred.
Guardiola expressed that maintaining a large squad is not viable and emphasized the importance for the team’s morale that the players “re-establish a stronger bond with one another, something he felt had diminished somewhat this season”.
The Premier League limits the number of players in a club’s main squad to a maximum of 25. However this restriction does not apply to players aged 21 or younger, who can be included in addition to senior squad.
Manchester City’s squad official website identifies 28 members of their first-team squad, along with four players who are presently on loan at other clubs.
For the 2023/24 season, Guardiola opted for a loan squad of 20 senior players, a decision he has publicly justified in the past. This is a notably different approach compared to Chelsea, who have 31 players listed on their official website alongside 21 others currently elsewhere on loan. Brighton and Tottenham both have 29 players, while Wolves have a slightly larger team with 30.
Arsenal’s player count for the current campaign stands at 24, making their squad smaller compared to Manchester city. Liverpool (the champions), Aston Villa, Everton, and Nottingham Forest also have fewer players, each listing 25 squad members.
