Manchester City believe 2025 rebuild was a ‘mistake’ as one first-team star ‘in particular’ should have been PHASED OUT earlier | OneFootball

Officials within Manchester City are holding regrets over their decision to push back a squad rebuild of Pep Guardiola’s roster through to 2025, instead of starting earlier.

Guardiola and his players find themselves in by far and away their worst run of form during the Catalan’s tenure as Etihad Stadium head coach, remaining winless in all of their last seven matches across competitions.

In fact, Manchester City’s last win in any tournament came over a month ago during a narrow 1-0 win over Southampton, and have since lost all of their last four Premier League outings, most recently against Liverpool to fall 11 points behind Arne Slot’s men.

Those results have raised serious questions about Manchester City’s recruitment policy in recent markets, and whether they have taken too much of a back seat in trusting their existing group of players to continue competing over and over again.

According to the information of The Athletic’s Daniel Taylor, those at the top of City are conscious they may have made a mistake by identifying 2025 as the time for a squad rebuild as opposed to doing more during the last summer market to accelerate that process.

It is further revealed that Manchester City captain and England international Kyle Walker, in particular, has been identified as a player within Pep Guardiola’s squad who should have been phased out earlier.

However, it is explained that one of the reasons why Manchester City wanted to wait until 2025 was Pep Guardiola himself, who had reportedly made it clear earlier in the current year that he wanted the club to be run sustainably.

As part of that, Taylor reveals that Guardiola did not want to push City into spending massive amounts on the back of another Premier League title, especially as he went into the summer not sure whether he would be staying beyond the end of the 2024/25 season.

At present, it remains to be seen how many stars Manchester City officials will feel as though their squad requires during the upcoming transfer markets, and just how much money they are willing to invest immediately during the January window.

The feeling in various quarters is that City will eye a new central midfielder to soften the blow of Rodri’s long-term injury which has had a huge impact on the squad’s ability to perform, with Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi among the names to have been discussed.

Other potential targets could include Atalanta’s Éderson and Torino’s Samuele Ricci, with some reports in Italy claiming that the latter have already informed Manchester City of their firm stance not to sell the Italian international midfielder.

Alongside recruitment, there is also the major subject of contractual situations within Guardiola’s squad, none more so important than Kevin De Bruyne’s deal, which runs until the end of the ongoing campaign.