“It is what it is” – Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City worries after Hugo Viana appointment | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has delivered an honest verdict on Manchester City’s transfer window ahead of their trip to Brighton on Sunday.

City suffered their first loss of the 2025-26 season against Tottenham last week, with strikes from Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha securing all three points for Thomas Frank’s men in a captivating game at the Etihad Stadium.

Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders made their home debuts for the club, with James Trafford also making his first appearance at the Etihad Stadium as a Manchester City first-team player since his return from Burnley in July.

However, a reality check at the hands of the north Londoners last week means Manchester City’s director of football Hugo Viana, who replaced long-serving Txiki Begiristain earlier in the window, may have work to do before the transfer window closes on September 1.

Manchester City have undergone a significant squad revamp in recent months following a disappointing third-place 2024-25 Premier League finish, having also crashed out prematurely from the UEFA Champions League and Carabao Cup.

City also lost last season’s FA Cup final to Crystal Palace, prompting a major overhaul of an ageing squad that clearly needed fresh blood and new ideas to challenge for major trophies once again – having won four straight Premier League titles between 2021 and 2024.

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Sverre Nypan and Trafford were all signed to bolster Guardiola’s squad, with Nypan the only new recruit to have been sent on loan, with the Norwegian midfielder joining Middlesbrough on loan for the 2025-26 season.

However, City have looked vulnerable in defence since last season and their frailties when dealing with counter attacks were brutally exposed by Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium last week – as they were at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June, wherein City were eliminated at the Round of 16 stage in an enthralling 4-3 defeat to Al-Hilal.

Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Brighton and Hove Albion, Guardiola was asked whether he is happy with the current roster of players at his disposal as Manchester City officials deliberate over possible late openings in the transfer market.

“Always I have been (happy with the squad), since one decade (ago), always I have been,” Guardiola said. Having publicly expressed a desire for the squad to be trimmed to his liking several times in recent months, Guardiola added: “No, it is what it is.

“I’m not a guy or a manager that complains much here about the squad; it never happened in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and here (at Manchester City). It is what it is, because I know the club is doing the best as possible in all terms, and not even when I’m losing a game – like a typical reaction from a manager is blaming the players or so on on what’s happened.

“I’ve proved it for many years, and last season was the biggest example, I’m so proud of that, because I know my players tried, and they tried, and they tried desperately to do well. I’ve never met one player who goes on the pitch and wants to perform bad, or do bad for his mates, or the club; never, ever!

“And sometimes always I have to think what we have to do better, and I said because I don’t like to have players at home, but the reality is the players know it for a long time. And if it stays like we stay, I will be more than pleased, and I will handle it day by day. And that’s all!”