Reduce squad size or I'll quit, warns Guardiola

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola applauds fans after the English Premier League football match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on April 19, 2025. [AFP]

Pep Guardiola has threatened to quit as manager of Manchester City if the club does not reduce the size of his squad this summer, saying leaving so many players out is "impossible for my soul".

A number of Man City's senior players were not included in the matchday squad for Tuesday's 3-1 win against Bournemouth and Guardiola says he is unhappy at leaving so many players out.

Abdukodir Khusanov, Savinho, James McAtee, Claudio Echeverri and Rico Lewis all missed out on Tuesday's 20-man matchday squad as City moved to third in the Premier League and within a point of Champions League qualification.

But, despite this showing the depth Guardiola has at his disposal, the Spaniard wants to work with a smaller squad next season.

He said: "I said to the club I don't want that (a bigger squad). I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don't want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay."

"It's impossible for my soul to (tell) my players in the tribune (stands) that they cannot play."

Guardiola says it is difficult to continually leave players out of City's matchday squad.

"Maybe for three, four months we couldn't select 11 players, we didn't have defenders, it was so difficult. After people came back, but next season it cannot be like that," the 54-year-old added.

"As a manager, I cannot train 24 players, and every time I select,t I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club, I don't want that."

City spent more than PS200m on four players in January, with Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Vitor Reis arriving at the Etihad Stadium while Echeverri, a 2024 signing from River Plate, also joined following a loan spell back at the Argentine club.

Kevin de Bruyne is the only player confirmed to be leaving City this summer, while the future of midfielder Jack Grealish, who last started a Premier League match on 2 April, is also in doubt.

When asked if it meant more exits were inevitable, Guardiola - who signed a deal keeping him at the club until 2027 - said: "It is a question for the club. I don't want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If I have injuries, unlucky, we have some players for the academy and we do it."

Guardiola said a big squad is unsustainable and that it is important for "the soul of the team" that his players "create another connection with each other that this season we lost it a bit".