Pep Guardiola: Many more Manchester City players should leave this summer | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has reminded the club’s board that they need to engineer further exits from the first-team squad this summer.

City have parted ways with Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Scott Carson already this summer, with Hugo Viana replacing Txiki Begiristain as director of football to kickstart his tenure with an impactful overhaul of the dressing room.

Guardiola’s men finished third in the Premier League last season, crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage and lost the FA Cup final – in what is arguably the Blues’ most underwhelming season since the Catalan took charge in 2016.

However, the changes have been sprung this summer and the Manchester City board – who signed Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez for £181.5 million in January – have made a series of standout additions to bolster Guardiola’s squad for the seasons to follow.

Rayan Ait-Nouri has come in as a much-needed natural left-back option that Manchester City have, for years, been crying out for. Tijjani Reijnders will provide further depth in the holding and attacking midfield positions.

Marcus Bettinelli is City’s new third-choice goalkeeper, with James Trafford signed from Burnley for £27 million to challenge Ederson for the number one goalkeeping spot as the latter enters the final year of his current deal at the Etihad Stadium.

Sverre Nypan has joined in for £12.5 million but at 18, the Norwegian midfield sensation is expected to spend the 2025-26 campaign on loan to gain first-team experience. Rayan Cherki will add creativity to a side that has lost De Bruyne after 10 illustrious seasons.

However, Guardiola hasn’t been left best pleased by the inactivity in terms of outgoings and has sent a crucial reminder to the Manchester City board that many more first-team players need to leave before the transfer window shuts on September 1.

“We need a little bit (fewer numbers). I don’t like (having lots) of players. A lot of players should leave,” Guardiola said ahead of a friendly game against Palermo on Saturday, as quoted by Mail Sport’s Jack Gaughan.

Jack Grealish, James McAtee and Kalvin Phillips have not travelled to Italy for the friendly against Palermo and are expected to find new clubs before the window closes. “The transfer window is moving a lot and many things are going to happen. We’ll see what happens and how we will handle it,” Guardiola added.

On the mood in the dressing room ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, the Manchester City manager said: “The good mood is quite similar to the Club World Cup,” after a disappointing Round of 16 finish in the United States in June.

“Maybe we missed some friendly games to prepare and arrive (to) the first three (Premier League) games against Wolves, Spurs and Brighton a little better – but we needed to rest and decided to make more training sessions than play games.”