- Guardiola has said that Man City will actively cut their squad down this summer
- The City boss is mindful he can’t keep everyone happy with the current size
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Pep Guardiola has predicted that Manchester City will actively trim their squad down before the start of the Premier League season.
City took 24 outfield players and three goalkeepers to the Club World Cup in America and face Al Ain in the second group game looking to secure qualification in the early hours of Monday morning.
Ilkay Gundogan is wanted by Galatasaray, while the injured Mateo Kovacic has had suitors. Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker are not part of the travelling party but are to be moved on.
Guardiola claimed earlier in the year that he will need a larger squad in future after being rocked by a steady stream of injuries through the last campaign.
But after making eight signings since January, he is also mindful that City cannot keep everybody happy if the size of the group remains the same.
Guardiola has typically operated with around 20 outfield players during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
‘No news, good news,’ Guardiola said when asked about Gundogan’s future. ‘I don’t know anything, I didn’t speak with him, and if he will not be part he would not be here.
‘But at the same time, we have – right now – a long squad, too many players, so we cannot go with 26, 27 players this season because there would be more without playing, and step by step maybe a few players are going to more.’
Guardiola confirmed that Rodri is not yet ready to start a game despite featuring for half an hour during the 2-0 win over Wydad AC.
The Catalan talked up the impact the South American teams have had on the competition, not closing the door on potentially managing on that continent in the future, before a potential banana skin against Al Ain, owned by the brother of Sheikh Mansour.
‘I feel it’s a privilege to be here,’ he added. ‘This is a privilege because in four years time (we might not qualify). Four years to be there you have to win big prizes.
‘We have a lot of respect for Al Ain, for the connection to our owners being from Abu Dhabi, and of course we have a huge opportunity to go to the next round and we’ll see. Many things can happen, and we’re going to take it seriously.’
