“The expression is the same” – Pep Guardiola offers clarity around Manchester City quit threat | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has offered much-needed clarity over what appeared to be a threat made to club officials regarding their planned transfer business for the upcoming summer window.

Manchester City officials are gearing up for what is expected to be a very busy summer market for the club, in which multiple arrivals are anticipated across the likes of the full-back and central midfield roles.

Kevin De Bruyne’s exit from the club next month means officials will need to source a new creative output, while there is also interest in a versatile and transitional midfielder, to bring in much-needed legs into the options.

But the signings expected to be made by the club this summer will only be added to the four secured during the winter market, and the return of players from injuries in the last few weeks means Guardiola has been forced to leave names out of crunch fixtures entirely.

The FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace was a primary example of that fact, as James McAtee and Rico Lewis were left out of the matchday squad list despite travelling and playing vital roles in the club making that stage of the competition.

After the 3-1 win over Bournemouth, Pep Guardiola insisted that he does not want his Manchester City squad to get any bigger next season for this very reason, and suggested that he would quit should that happen.

Now, speaking ahead of City’s final Premier League game of the season, Guardiola somewhat admitted that his words on Tuesday night with regards to an exit from the Etihad Stadium were a joke.

“I was laughing when I said that! I’m not going to quit,” the head coach clarified. “But the expression is the same; I don’t want to have players at home with family when the team is playing.

“Everyone has to have the chance to play, compete with eachother to get the best out of all of us. That is the most important thing. That’s why when you have a lot, a lot of… Of course there are injuries during the season, but if it happens the season will be a problem.

“But always we expect that next season will be completely different, knowing that we have a lot of games, no rest in this summer time, this kind of stuff.”

Guardiola continued, “But in the last three weeks, one month four, five players, four, five players, six players at home, and that is not healthy, for any of us, for them especially, for the club, for me, for everyone.

“That’s why the club knows it, the club is completely agreeing with me, and we’re going to find the best way for all of us.”

While arrivals are indeed expected, a number of exits from the current playing squad are also being anticipated, with significant question marks continuing to hang over the futures of several names.

Jack Grealish could yet find a way out of the club after a disappointing season and having largely failed to follow his success in the Treble-winning campaign of 2022/23, while it remains to be seen whether some of the older names retain spots in the team.

That includes Manchester City’s goalkeeping trio of Ederson, Stefan Ortega Moreno, and Scott Carson, as well as midfielders such as Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, and Mateo Kovacic, while injury-hit defenders in John Stones and Nathan Ake face assessment over their futures.