Manchester City FC v Real Madrid CF - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg
Guehi will not be involved today (Picture: Getty)
Manchester City will be without Marc Guehi in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal this afternoon.
The England international left Crystal Palace to join City in a cut-price £25million deal during the January transfer window.
He has immediately slotted into Pep Guardiola’s starting XI, playing the full 90 minutes in the eight Premier League games he started having also played twice in the FA Cup.
But different competition rules mean Guehi is not allowed to participate in the Carabao Cup this season.
Rules brought in at the start of the season by the EFL mean players must be registered before semi-finals to be eligible to play in the final.
Guehi joined City three days after the first leg of their semi-final over Newcastle in mid-January. It meant it was too late for him to be registered for the competition, sitting out of the return leg last month.
Antonie Semenyo was another January arrival at City but was free to be named in City’s starting XI this afternoon.
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Newcastle United v Manchester City - Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg
Semenyo is eligible to play today (Picture: Getty)
Semenyo played for Bournemouth in the second round of the competition but arrived well in time for those semi-final games against Newcastle, starting both games.
Guardiola pleaded for a rule change to allow Guehi to start today only for the EFL to ignore his appeals.
‘Hopefully in March, we can arrive with the players fit and hopefully you can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc Guehi can play in the final,’ Guardiola said.
‘Because it’s difficult to understand that the club who make a big investment to pay one player who belongs to us and I don’t understand why he cannot play the final.
‘So, hopefully we write a letter, and hopefully the Carabao Cup can understand. He’s not able to play for a rule that I don’t understand why. Hopefully, they can change it.’
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