Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has revealed that he told the club not to sign anyone last summer only to now regret that decision following lengthy injury crisis
Pep Guardiola has revealed he told his Manchester City bosses that he did not want to strengthen his squad last summer.
And the City head coach admits that in hindsight that decision has proven costly. The champions are in sixth place before Tuesday night’s visit to Brentford, 12 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
City have been beset by injuries – most notably to Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, which has left Guardiola with few options in holding midfield.
Defensively they have had to constantly reshuffle too and speaking in a press conference to preview the trip to West London Guardiola said: “In the summer the club thought about it and I said ‘no, I don’t want to make any signings.’
“I relied a lot on these guys and thought I can do it again. But after the injuries – wow – maybe we should have done it.”
City are expected to spend more than £100m this month to bolster Guardiola’s squad.
But the current group is packed with experienced campaigners over the age of 30 and following several years with minimal time to recover, with the club going the distance in the majority of knockout competitions plus international football demands.
Captain Kyle Walker, who has asked to leave the club in the January transfer window, and Ilkay Gundogan, who returned to the club following a campaign at Barcelona, are among those to have found the intensity a struggle with no time to rest.
And Guardiola added: “We knew at the beginning of the season we will have a lot of players over 30. We knew sooner or later, we should do it. Step by step we had to change.
“But five or six months ago, they won the Premier League, four in a row, reached the FA Cup final and quarter-final of the Champions League. The amount of injuries we had, I didn’t expect it.”
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