Manchester City bosses receive fresh player sales demand from Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has once again issued a clear demand to Manchester City officials over trimming down the Etihad Stadium’s first-team squad this summer.

With City returning to pre-season training and players reporting back to the City Football Academy this week, their manager has reignited his long-standing concern about having too many senior players competing for limited minutes.

The Catalan has previously spoken about the emotional and psychological toll of managing a large group of elite footballers, and he has now reaffirmed his belief that a smaller, more tightly-knit squad is essential to maintain dressing room harmony.

Manchester City have already begun working on squad outgoings this summer, with the likes of James McAtee expected to leave permanently, and others such as Claudio Echeverri and Vitor Reis potentially heading out on loan. Meanwhile, decisions on the likes of Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gündoğan, and Stefan Ortega remain unresolved, while Kalvin Phillips is almost certain to depart.

Beyond performance and tactics, Pep Guardiola’s latest message lays bare the emotional strain of managing world-class players who expect regular game time, detailing the pressure of telling top-level professionals that they are surplus to requirements on any given matchday.

Speaking to GQ Spain this week on the eve of Manchester City’s return to pre-season training, Pep Guardiola once again insisted that he requires a much more slimmed down squad at his disposal to keep players content.

“I have 23 players and I choose 11 every three days. 23 or 22… 11. The next 11, whoa! They feel like I don’t love them, and it’s the opposite, I love them even more because I suffer for them, but those eleven say: ‘How come you didn’t choose me and chose someone else?” said Guardiola.

He continued, “And this is about the same old thing, about feeling loved or not loved. Do you know what I want? Do you know what I want? To be loved, for my people to love me, but a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot. Then I’m fine.”

The Manchester City manager went on to say, “Every three days I tell at least 11 different players: You’re not good enough and I don’t want you, you’re good, but your teammate is better than you. That’s why there are conflicts, that’s all there is to it.

“How do you solve it? I would love to have only 11 players throughout the year, just 11. And you coach them, but of course, they get injured, you know? You can’t play with seven; you have to have substitutes.”

Praising the handling of Manchester City’s first-team stars by club staff, Guardiola admitted, “The team’s nutritionists are fantastic. We have a player care department that takes care of them, their families, their children, they find them schools, gynaecologists, paediatricians.

“If their car breaks down, they send someone to fix it, they have all the luxuries in the sense that they’re treated so they can dedicate themselves to training and training well. But they just want to play, because they’re very good, right? These 11 who don’t play are incredibly good.

“But for reasons… because of space, sometimes they don’t play. ‘So I’m here, you pay me money, I’m here so I can play. And you’re telling me I’m not doing it, that what I want to do most, which is play, I can’t do it.'”

The Catalan tactician added, “Tell me how I fix it. And you tell them: No, it’s fine, you’re training well, okay, okay. And they think: ‘I’ll play the next day.’ Well, they don’t play either. And they don’t play either. How can there not be conflicts? Impossible.”

Pep Guardiola’s comments come at a time when City are actively engaged in transfer negotiations regarding potential exits, while the manager has also been closely involved in evaluating who should be retained for the coming campaign.

Additionally, Guardiola’s recent declaration to GQ Spain that he will “more than definitely” take a prolonged break from football after his time with Manchester City may also be driving this desire for clarity and calm around the squad during his final seasons.

With two years left on his contract and possible retirement looming, he appears more determined than ever to optimise performance levels by reducing unnecessary internal tension.

Should City succeed in reducing their numbers, it may open the door for Academy standouts like Divine Mukasa to feature more prominently. But equally, it could serve as a warning to those still fighting for minutes that this summer could be their final chance to find opportunities elsewhere, or risk another season on the sidelines.