What Pep Guardiola's 'quit' claim means for Man City stars and transfer plans

 ETIHAD STADIUM MANCHESTER - No sooner had Manchester City's fans bade an emotional farewell to Kevin De Bruyne, Pep Guardiola put them on notice for another seismic departure.

For Tuesday's 3-1 win over Bournemouth, which put City on the cusp of UEFA Champions League qualification after a season for form and fitness woes, Guardiola left first-team players Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, Rico Lewis and James McAtee out of the matchday squad.

Boyhood City fans Lewis and McAtee were also omitted entirely from the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, where Claudio Echeverri made a surprise senior debut from the bench before being confined to the stands for the Bournemouth match.

De Bruyne's on-field speech brought tears to Guardiola's eyes and there was a further show of emotion in his post-match news conference when he discussed the anguish of having to leave players out who have trained hard all week.

"I said to the club, I don't want that [a bigger squad]. I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don't want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay. It's impossible for my soul to [tell] my players in the tribune [stands] that they cannot play."

Guardiola, as he often does, was bringing a little dramatic license into his media briefings. It's hard to envisage this immediately becoming a resigning matter. However, City are at an intriguing crossroads heading into a summer that will be dominated by their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Why did Pep Guardiola say he would quit Man City?

The notion of dropping players hurting Guardiola's soul sounds like him laying it on thick, but it is not the first time the six-time Premier League winner has spoken about struggling with this.

Guardiola typically likes to work with a squad of around 18-20 senior players, with those numbers topped up when needed by youth-team graduates. During City's run of four consecutive Premier League titles and, most notably, prior to their treble success in 2022/23, there were frequent calls for them to add more players amid fears the squad was too small.

The small squad approach was ultimately vindicated by the silverware amassed, but this season, City suffered. Rodri's ACL injury and Oscar Bobb's broken leg probably brought them close to capacity in terms of what long-term absences could be absorbed. From there, short to medium-term injuries piled up - particular at centre-back - as City's season fell apart during the winter months.

This was a big part of the motivation for an unusually busy January window, with Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Vitor Reis and Khusanov all coming through the door, while Echeverri arrived on a previously agreed deal from River Plate. Additionally, City signed Juma Bah from from Valladolid before sending the 18-year-old defender on loan to Khusanov's former club Lens.

"Maybe [for] three, four months we couldn't select 11 players, we didn't have defenders, it was so difficult," Guardiola said. "After, people came back, but next season it cannot be like that.

"As a manager, I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club, 'I don't want that'."

City's first season without a major domestic trophy since 2016/17 and the fact De Bruyne and some of the other stalwarts of Guardiola's team have grown old together means a refresh is necessary. It arguably began in January, with Marmoush by far the eldest signing at 26.

A report by the Telegraph said City's new sporting director Hugo Viana had his eye on two new midfielders - namely Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Tijjani Reijnders of AC Milan - along with a pair of reinforcements at full-back. Given City's age profile in the former position and lack of specialists in the latter, these are obvious areas of need.

But it will rub up against Guardiola's optimal squad size unless a number of ageing players on good contracts and promising youngsters can be moved on. This looks set to be the big challenge of Guardiola grooving his working relationship with a new sporting director, having worked so famously in-sync with his great friend Txiki Begiristain.

Man City squad depth chart

Rodri was given a standing ovation when he return from nine months out with a brief substitute cameo against Bournemouth. The Ballon d'Or winner was the 27th player to feature in a competitive match for City since the end of the busy January transfer window.

In terms of trimming those numbers, contract lengths are the most obvious issues. Aside from De Bruyne, the only other player whose deal expires in June 2025 is long-serving and non-playing goalkeeping backup Scott Carson.

Here's Guardiola's squad position-by-position and a brief look at where he might open up space.