Man City’s Guardiola Demands Slimmer Squad for Next Season
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has told the club he wants to work with a tighter squad next season as it troubles his “soul” to leave so many players in the stands when everyone is fit.
Regular internationals Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov and Claudio Echeverri were all unable to find a place in the squad on Tuesday as City beat Bournemouth 3-1. England’s James McAtee and Rico Lewis also missed out, Reuters reported.
City have 28 players in the first team, not counting four who are out on loan, and have one of the most valuable squads in the world with some media reports valuing it at over 1.3 billion euros ($1.47 billion).
“I said to the club … I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer,” Guardiola told reporters after City moved up to third with one match left in the campaign.
“I don’t want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay.”
Despite their huge squad City faced an injury crisis late last year, with the side going on a five-match losing streak in all competitions between October-November.
