Pep Guardiola Confirms ‘There’s huge uncertainty surrounding a number of players at Manchester City
Everyone is expecting change at Man City this summer, and Pep Guardiola has just confirmed one change that will take place at the Etihad.
The summer of change at Manchester City has already gotten underway after Kevin De Bruyne announced he’ll be leaving the club this summer.
The 33-year-old will move on after 10 years at the Etihad, though it’s highly likely that more high profile names following him out of the Man City doors.
There’s huge uncertainty surrounding a number of players with the latest casualty seemingly being Kyle Walker. Recent reports have revealed that Walker is not in Man City’s plans for next season and that he’s free to leave.
Elsewhere, it’s rumoured that Real Madrid are keeping tabs on Bernardo Silva who many Man City fans think needs to move on, whilst the likes of John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, and even Jack Grealish seem to face uncertain summers ahead.
Man City have hired Hugo Viana as director of football for this summer in a move that really highlights the club’s desire to start afresh, after a tough 2024/25 season.
Photo by Luigi Rizzo/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Photo by Luigi Rizzo/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Pep Guardiola says Man City won’t have a huge first-team squad next season
In seasons gone by Man City have often had a very large first-team squad. It’s arguably been a key element behind Pep’s success at the club as he’s been able to rotate almost every week and bring in world class players, enabling Man City to stay fresh and competitive.
This season, Pep has seemingly tried to pivot away from that. Man City have signed seven new players in 2024/25 whilst selling five on a permanent basis and loaning out eight, although many of the loan exits are of younger players.
Nonetheless, it signals a shift to a more compact and regular Man City squad. Speaking to the press ahead of Man City’s game against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Pep confirmed that he won’t boast a huge first-team squad next season, saying: “I don’t know what’s going to happen [this summer]. Of course the club is working, but we are not going to have 45 players in the squad. It’s not sustainable, in terms of emotionally for the team.
“We have to see, except Kevin [De Bruyne], all the other contracts and we’ll see until the end how they behave, how we are, and we are going to see.”
The five Man City players out of contract in 2026
Only De Bruyne, Gundogan and Scott Carson are out of contract in 2025 and we could see all of them leave as free agents. But Pep’s above comments might be more in relation to those out of contract in 2026.
At the end of the 2025/26 season, Stones, Ederson, Silva, James McAtee and Stefan Ortega are out of contract and so Pep and Viana might try to cash in on those, who appear to be deadwood anyway, to make back a bit of cash before they’d eventually lose them for nothing.
Expect Viana and Pep to be in constant dialogue over who stays and who goes despite the season not being over, as Man City arguably have more work to do than any of their Premier League rivals right now.
The game against Crystal Palace kicks off at 12:30pm on Saturday.
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