Pep Guardiola has issued a stark ultimatum to Manchester City, threatening to resign if the club expands the size of his squad in the upcoming summer transfer window.
For the first time in eight years, City are set to conclude a season without securing a major trophy. However, they are now just one point away from guaranteeing Champions League football for next season, following their 3-1 home victory against Bournemouth on Tuesday night, which propelled them to third in the Premier League table.
Despite spending £180 million in the January transfer window on new signings including Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Nico Gonzalez, Manchester City are anticipated to have another active summer. This comes as Kevin De Bruyne is set to depart, and the futures of Jack Grealish and Ederson remain uncertain.
The current season has seen City significantly impacted by injuries, with Rodri, in particular, missing the majority of the campaign after undergoing ACL surgery in September. However, Guardiola remains steadfast in his opposition to a larger squad as a means to cope with such issues next season.
“I said to the club, ‘I don’t want that’, I don’t want to put five, six players in the tribune, I don’t want that. I will quit. If they don’t make a short squad, I will not stay,” Guardiola declared after City’s Tuesday night victory.
He elaborated on his reasoning, emphasizing the emotional toll of having numerous players excluded from matchday squads. “It’s impossible for my soul to put the players in the tribune and cannot play. Now it happened because we added four players… maybe three or four months we could not select eleven players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult. After people came back and next season it cannot be like that.”
Guardiola reiterated his firm stance against managing an excessively large group of players. “As a manager, I cannot be training 24 players and every time I select there has to be four, five, six staying in Manchester at home because they can’t play. This isn’t going to happen. This is not going to happen – I said to the club I don’t want that.”
He concluded by stressing the importance of maintaining a tight-knit squad for team cohesion and spirit. “I do not want to have 24, 25, 26 players and when everybody’s fit… if I have injuries, unlucky. We have some players in the academy, we do it but we cannot sustain for the emotional, for the soul of the team, I couldn’t create another connection between each other. This season we lost it a little bit, but with the players like they know week by week [if] they stay at home. They have to be here to fight between them to play, there has to be the right number, if there are a lot of injuries… unlucky. But we have to do it.”