Guardiola, the conditions for staying at City: "I want a short squad otherwise I'll leave"

Pep Guardiola against oversized squads. The Manchester City manager, who last November renewed his contract until 2027 , has publicly asked his club to reduce the number of players available, threatening to leave the position if the management does not accept his request. "I told the club that I do not want a very large squad. I do not want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I do not want that, I would leave. Give me a smaller squad and I will stay," said the Spanish manager after the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth that allowed City to climb to third place in the Premier League and to get closer to qualifying for the Champions League with 90 minutes to go.

Guardiola's message

Guardiola left Khusanov, Savinho, McAtee, Echeverri and Rico Lewis in the stands. "It's difficult for me to tell my players to go to the stands and not play. For three or four months we couldn't have 11 players, we didn't have defenders and it was difficult. But then the players came back and next season can't be like this one," warned the Manchester manager. "I can't coach 24 players and every time I make a choice have 4, 5 or 6 at home because they can't play. It can't happen, I told the club I don't want it to happen. If there are injuries, we have players from our Academy. We can't afford to lose the soul of the team, to create that bond between us that this season has been lost a bit."