Pep Guardiola threatens to quit Man City over transfer strategy change

Pep Guardiola says he does not want to expand the size of Manchester City’s squad

Pep Guardiola has threatened to quit Manchester City if the club expand the size of his squad in the summer transfer window.

For the first time in eight years, City will end a season without winning a major trophy but Guardiola’s side are now one point away from securing Champions League football for next season after their 3-1 win at home to Bournemouth on Tuesday night put them third in the Premier League.

City spent £180 million in the January transfer window on signing Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez but are set for an active summer window with Kevin De Bruyne leaving, while the futures of Jack Grealish and Ederson are in doubt.

City have been hit with multiple injuries this season and have missed Rodri for the majority of the campaign after he required ACL surgery in September.

But Guardiola insists he is against having a larger squad to cope with injuries next season.

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‘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 said after City’s victory on Tuesday night.

Man City will be in the market to replace Kevin De Bruyne this summer (PA Wire)

‘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.

‘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.

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‘This isn’t going to happen. This is not going to happen – I said to the club I don’t want that.

‘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.’

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