Pep Guardiola wants to tear up the Carabao Cup rulebook before Manchester City face Arsenal in the final.
Manchester City booked their place at Wembley on Wednesday night (February 4) with a 3-1 win over Newcastle at the Etihad, winning the fixture 5-1 on aggregate.
January signing Antoine Semenyo started the second leg after scoring in the first match at St James’ Park. The Ghana international joined Man City from Bournemouth on January 9 and was eligible to play four days later against the Magpies.
Man City face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final next month.placeholder image
Man City face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final next month. | Getty Images
But fellow January signing Marc Guehi, who joined Man City 10 days later, was ineligible for the semis, and is not allowed to play in the final either.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the semi-final win, Guardiola said: “It would be good for more of them [to win a cup final]. You have to live this experience. For many of these players the first time we won a trophy in our era here was in the Carabao Cup nine years ago. It helped us to win more.
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“It's a pleasure to play against Arsenal, the best team right now in Europe, maybe in the world. For many things, the stats, consistency and the many details they control. As much as you play against them, it will make us a better team.
“Hopefully in March we can arrive with the players fit. Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup [organisers] that Marc can play this competition in the final. It's difficult to understand, the club make a big investment to take one player, who belongs to us.
“I don't understand why he can't play the final. Honestly. Hopefully we make a letter and hopefully the Carabao Cup or whatever, they can understand that once you buy a player for a lot of money and he's not available to play for a rule, hopefully they can change it and he can play.”
Because Guehi joined after the first leg of the semis had already been played, rule 6.4 stipulates that players signed after the first leg of a semi-final cannot take part in that tie or the final.
As it stands, Guehi will not be allowed to feature in the clash with Arsenal at Wembley.
Pundit and former Man City defender Micah Richards said: “Rules are rules aren't they? Do I agree? I understand Pep's frustrations. You've just spent all that money on a player and you want him to play of course.
“But at the start of the season, the rules are the rules.”
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