Pep Guardiola hints at Man City clearout in the summer: ‘That is the reality’ | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has indicated a number of his Manchester City squad could be moved on this summer.

City have endured a frustrating campaign by their lofty standards, having fallen well off the pace in the Premier League title race and exited the Champions League before the last-16 stage.

Injuries have been a major factor in the champions’ decline and manager Guardiola conceded time may now be catching up with some of the players.

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Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have endured a frustrating campaign by their lofty standards (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)

Aside from long-term casualty Rodri, the likes of John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic have all had either lengthy absences or more than one period out of action.

The group have experienced little but continual success in recent years – with the club having won four straight Premier League titles and the treble in 2023 – but Guardiola feels the demands of the calendar now necessitate a refresh.

“That is the reality,” the City boss said at a press conference. “We have to sit down with the doctors, with the physios, with the players, with the agents and be clear that some of them cannot sustain, every month or two months, playing every three, four days.

“There’s one more year, then a World Cup. We have already a lot of players that cannot sustain what we have done in the past – week-in, week-out playing in different competitions, travel.

“The quality is there but the quality we can abuse because players can be injured for a long time.

“Listen, we deserve to have a bad season. It’s not good but it can happen.

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“But the reality is that for the future, if we want to be there (challenging) again, you have to have players fit and available.

“It’s so demanding. The teams are quicker and faster, stronger and many things and we cannot handle it right now. This is the reality, sorry.”

Stones became the latest injury victim in midweek when he limped off with a thigh problem in the opening minutes of the Champions League loss at Real Madrid.

He could now miss most of the rest of the season along with with fellow centre-back Akanji, who was injured last week.

De Bruyne was sidelined for two months in the autumn and has struggled to rediscover his best since.

He was an unused substitute at the Bernabeu Stadium which, for a game of such magnitude, would have been unheard of in previous years.

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At 33 and out of contract in the summer, it does seem the City career of the Belgium playmaker – one of the club’s greatest players of all time – could be winding down.

Guardiola confirmed he was not injured, meaning his absence was tactical.

“It was my decision,” said Guardiola, whose side host Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday.

“The relationship with Kevin is exceptional and I cannot thank him enough for what he done to me, to the team, and everything.

“It’s just a decision (based on) what I’ve seen, for many reasons, or a few reasons. It’s never, ever personal.

“Maybe for the demands, for the way now we need to play, because for the absence of strength that we have and physicality and many things, we need more control.

“I decided the decision and that’s all, no more than that.”