Pep Guardiola reveals whether a ‘squad rebuild’ was discussed during Manchester City contract negotiations | OneFootball

Manchester City have an ‘exceptional’ squad when every one of their players is fit and available, according to Pep Guardiola, responding to questions over a future ‘rebuild’.

Much has been made in recent days over Manchester City’s ageing squad, with 12 of their existing first-team roster being over the age of 29, and several of their starting line-up against Tottenham being over the age of 30.

Guardiola has responded to such pointers over the age of the Manchester City roster by insisting on the importance of having a mix between youth, players in their prime, and those with vast amounts of experience at the very top of the game.

Irrespective of the amount of changes needed in the Manchester City squad, transfers are inevitable in the coming markets and particularly with the arrival of Sporting’s director of football Hugo Viana taking the place of Txiki Begiristain from next summer.

Speaking after City’s most-recent Premier League outing, Pep Guardiola was quizzed on whether any degree of ‘squad rebuild’ was discussed with the club’s hierarchy when all parties were weighing up a two-year contract agreement in recent weeks.

“I think, when all the squad is there, it’s exceptional,” Guardiola pointed out. “I would not be, from my voice or my words, saying that the team is not good. But the team is not ready here, this is a little bit of the problem that we have in this period.

“But the team is really good, and at the end of the season or whenever, of course like I’m here and I want to be, we will take the right decisions with what we have to do. But it looks like when I’m saying that that I trust more than ever with these players.”

He continued, touching on the form of late that has seen City lose all of their last five matches across competitions, “I’ve been here as a football player, you have doubts, and you want to win, and they are desperate to do well. They are not, ‘Ah it doesn’t matter’. Absolutely not!

“I see them every day in training sessions, how they are focussed today in the locker room, in the warm-up, and after the game how they feel it. They feel it, the football players, not just here but everywhere, they feel it, they want to do well.

“But sometimes you have to accept it, sometimes it’s not like we have been for eight years. But I’ve said before, and I’ve said here, sooner or later it should’ve happened. Sooner or later. I know the people, ‘Win again, and again, and again’, but sooner or later you have that.

“For many reasons, little details. It would be easy if you said, ‘Ah that is the reason why, me, or players, whatever’, it would be easy to fix. There are little, little things that started from from the beginning of the season, and if it was getting worse, a little bit worse in situations, and you say, ‘No the squad’ – the squad is really good! When we are all together, it’s really good!

“But unfortunately now we have to face it. I cannot say anything. The situation and what we have to do; keep going my friends, keep going. We have done it in the past in terms of being not as bad as now in terms of the results, but we have done it, and we face the situation and we move forward.”

Manchester City will return to action in the UEFA Champions League this week as they welcome Feyenoord to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, with a clash at Anfield to follow against Arne Slot’s Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.