Under-fire Pep Guardiola’s radical Manchester City revamp will include selling HALF his starting 11 as pressure mounts on the reigning Premier League champions.
The Spanish coach is one of the greatest to ever take to the dugout in the beautiful game and has racked up six Premier League titles to add to his trophies with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. However, this campaign has turned disastrous with the Citizens all but out of the title race and left chasing a top-four finish. And the hierarchy at the Etihad are in agreement with Pep Guardiola that a squad overhaul is needed after a torrid run of just one win and two draws in their last 11 fixtures. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Ederson and Kyle Walker could be at risk.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague lifted the lid on the latest goings on at the club and says those at the club believe the “essence” of the team has been lost. He explains: “They are generally achieving their targets and something that gets the renewed target of this season is top four. That is what City want to do. That is the target they have all put I their head. I think they will achieve that. They are not that far away at the moment. You are talking about an achievable target.
“They want to recover the essence of the team, the look of the team. But quite clearly Pep Guardiola is going to use the last two years of his contract – which are probably be the last two of his career as a club manager – to prepare a new Manchester City. I have got a very clear idea that they will want to get rid of five or six regular starters for Manchester City and bring five or six new starters. Half of the team. It is a new era. The end of this one and a new era starting.
“The cycle is over but remember that only a month-and-a-half ago they had not lost a game and were top of the table. But that in my eyes is what is happening. That is what they are going to do next.”
Balague also revealed that there was a spat between Guardiola and Kyle Walker the day before the 3-3 draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League, where he scratched his face. It further reinforces rising tensions at the Etihad Campus despite Balague believing he will turn it around.
He explained: “[Guardiola] is protected by his people but he senses a lot of people want Manchester City to fail. The day before [the Feyenoord game] there was an argument – but a football argument – about positional play and where he had to play with Kyle Walker. And he just got nervous and he marked his nose and they put a cover on it. It was in his own office.
“It shows that he is tense and he is nervous of course. You know he doubts hugely in himself, he always has. He thinks ‘I’m not going to be able to figure this out’ and he needs the support of people. And quite clearly he has the support of people and quite clearly he will find a solution.”