Guardiola warns City ahead of next season: "I want a smaller squad or I'll leave."

This hasn't been Pep Guardiola 's year at Manchester City. After a disastrous season in the Premier League and a Champions League exit in the round of 16 against Real Madrid, the Spanish manager's continued presence at the English club remains up in the air. In a new chapter of the soap opera, the Catalan issued a warning to the club's owners on Tuesday: "I want a smaller squad or I'll leave," Efe reports.

The Spanish coach spoke to the media after his team's victory against Bournemouth , which left them one point away from qualifying for the Champions League.

"I've told the club I don't want a bigger squad," Guardiola said regarding the upcoming summer transfer window. " I don't want to have to leave five or six players in the stands . I don't want that. I would leave. If we make a smaller squad, I'll stay. It's impossible for me to give my soul to the players if they have to stay in the stands and not play."

Last winter transfer window, City signed Nico, Khusanov and Vitor Reis, spending a total of over £100 million due to the plague of injuries the team suffered, especially that of Rodrigo Hernandez , who has been out for eight months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"For three or four months, we were without several players, we didn't have any defenders, and it was very difficult. People come back from injuries afterward, but next season can't be like this. As a manager, I can't manage 24 players and have four, five, or six of them stay in Manchester every week because they can't play. This can't happen, and I've told the club that," he emphasized.

In the upcoming transfer window, City are expected to make several signings to revitalize a squad that, after winning everything, including four consecutive Premier League titles, is only in contention for the Club World Cup this season, having lost the league, Champions League, League Cup, and FA Cup.