Can Marc Guehi play in Carabao Cup final against Arsenal after Pep Guardiola special request?

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·22 Maret 2026

Can Marc Guehi play in Carabao Cup final against Arsenal after Pep Guardiola special request?

Guardiola asked for rule change to allow centre-back to play at Wembley

Pep Guardiola called for a rule to change to allow Marc Guehi to be available for Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

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Guehi joined City in a £20million move from Crystal Palace in January after the cut-off to play for them in the competition and missed their semi-final win over Newcastle.

Under new rules brought in by the EFL before the 2025-26 season, players had to be registered before the semi-finals to be able to play in the Carabao Cup.

Antoine Semenyo featured in the competition for Bournemouth in round two but was cleared to play in both semi-final ties after joining City before the trip to St James’ Park.

Guardiola wanted the rules changed for the final, saying in February that "pure logic" suggests Guehi should be allowed to play at Wembley.

“Hopefully in March we can arrive with the players fit and hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup [officials] that Marc can play in this final,” said Guardiola.

“It is difficult to understand that the club makes a big investment to take one player, he belongs to us and I do not understand why he cannot play in the final.

“Hopefully we make a letter and hopefully the Carabao Cup [officials] can understand that once you buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule that I do not understand why. Hopefully they can change it and he can play.”

But that request was not granted by the EFL and Guehi is unavailable against Arsenal, meaning either John Stones or Abdukodir Khusanov will play alongside Ruben Dias in central defence.