Man City boss Pep Guardiola has identified five players he wants out of the club at the end of this season, according to reports.
The Citizens have had a season to forget by their standards with Guardiola’s side currently fifth in the Premier League after winning the title four seasons in a row.
Man City still have one hope of silverware this season as their FA Cup campaign continues this weekend against Bournemouth in the quarter-finals.
But regardless of their success in the final matches of the season, Guardiola is now set to shake his squad up in the summer transfer window.
Man City went big in January to bring in Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah – but Guardiola will now trim his squad in the summer.
Spanish publication Fichajes claims that Guardiola has a ‘huge hit list’ of five players that he is looking to move on in the summer.
READ: Man City FFP: Transfer targets for expelled Premier League champions in League Two
Their poor campaign in the Premier League is ‘set to lead to an unprecedented dressing room clean-up at the Etihad Stadium’ with Man City ‘preparing for a hectic summer’.
Guardiola has ‘informed the board of his intention to carry out a thorough cleansing of the dressing room’ and ‘the idea is clear: to renew the squad and move on from those who are no longer performing at the level demanded by the elite.’
The report reveals Kevin de Bruyne, Iklay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Ederson and Stefan Ortega are the five players he’s looking to swap out.
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Premier League icon Didi Hamann isn’t sure whether Guardiola has the patience for a rebuild as many managers finding it too much.
When asked if Guardiola could consider moving on in the summer, Hamann replied: “Well, when he signed the contract extension, I think that the contract was signed to calm things down and just bring a bit of stability into the club, because it was really needed at the time because of the 115 charges that the Premier League brought against City.
“You know, he’s been there a long time. The people in charge of the football club are the same people that were running Barcelona when he was there, so they are not only colleagues, they’re friends and I’m sure if he wants to go, they would find a solution.
“The challenge for City is that next season, they kind of have to create a new team and I think in modern history, for example, when Ferguson won the Champions League in 1999 and then winning it again with a different team in 2008, he was the last manager to do that. That kind of rebuild requires a lot of patience and a lot of energy. When I look at Pep this season, I’m not sure whether he’s got either at the moment.
“It’s a very testing job, being a Premier League manager. You have to transfer that fire from the manager to the players and make them believe they can win everything again. I’m not sure he can do that. I said that a few months ago.
“I’m not sure how far that time is where he say to himself, maybe somebody else is better equipped for the job. I’d be surprised if he’s still the manager next season, regardless of where they finish.”