Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated he has told the Manchester City hierarchy he wants to work with a tighter squad for the 2025-26 season, Afrosport reports.
The Spaniard has a large squad at his disposal, but a number of them were not part of Tuesday’s matchday squad against Bournemouth, including Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov and Claudio Echeverri, all signings this season, while James McAtee and Rico Lewis also missed out.
Despite their huge squad, Man City have battled with injuries this season, which saw them go on a winless streak towards the end of 2024.
This prompted Guardiola to spend a staggering £172 million on signing Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis, Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez in January, but all players bar Marmoush have not had enough game time, which is frustrating for the City boss
“I said to the club … I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer,” he said. “I don’t want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay.
“It is a question for the club. I don’t want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If I have injuries, unlucky, we have some players (from) the academy, and we do it.”
One step closer
#AsahiSuperDry pic.twitter.com/lCA7wmAAri
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 21, 2025
Man City defeated Bournemouth 4-2 on Tuesday night to move up to third in the Premier League standings and solidify their quest to qualify for next season’s Champions League with one game left to end the season.
