ByTNT Sports
Published 08/03/2025 at 16:23 GMT
‘It’s about staying humble’ - Hudson-Odoi, Ola Aina on race for Champions League
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Joleon Lescott believes Manchester City "need" the UEFA Champions League "to attract top, top players" for any summer rebuild.
After a season of relative struggle for Pep Guardiola, it is anticipated that City will continue the overhaul that started in the winter transfer window, when Nico Gonzalez, Vitor Reis, Omar Marmoush, and Abdukodir Khusanov all arrived.
However, despite that outlay, City were knocked out of the Champions League in the play-offs by Real Madrid, and they are yet to guarantee a top-five finish this year.
Speaking to TNT Sports, former City defender Lescott made it clear the club needed to make sure they had top-flight European football to offer to potential new signings.
He said: "The club needs it. If you want to attract top, top players, you need to be in the Champions League."
Hudson-Odoi punishes Ederson error after ‘brilliant’ Gibbs-White assist
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However, he did think that the chance to work with Guardiola would still be a huge draw, saying, "Of course, they're still going to be competitive, regardless of the Champions League or not.
"They're still going to be one of the favourites to win the league, FA Cup, League Cup, but in attracting the elite players, it's the Champions League."
Alongside Lescott, Rio Ferdinand pointed out that a manager as successful as Guardiola would not be equipped to deal with any second-tier European competition.
He stated: "That's the only thing that Pep thinks about. He's never heard the other music, he's only heard the Champions League music. He won't know where he is!
"He wouldn't understand how to fathom that. He won't be thinking that and he won't be expecting that because of the equality they have and the experience they have."
'We have 10 finals' - Guardiola targets late Man City push in Champions League race
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Guardiola: We have 10 games to qualify
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Speaking after his side’s loss, Guardiola was relatively pleased with the performance of the team, but said Nottingham Forest were difficult to break down.
He explained: "\[It was\] a tight game, we controlled transitions, we had chances to shoot but were not precise. In the second half, there were transitions, and in a transition they scored."
"They defended really well. We had chances but at the last moment we could not do it."
The Spaniard was still positive over his team’s chance to succeed in the race for Champions League qualification.
He added: "We have 10 games to qualify. We have to win games to qualify, and we move on to the next one.
"We knew the game would be difficult. Every season the Premier League gets better and better. We have 10 finals and the next one we start."
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