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Tuesday night was all about creator-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne bringing down the curtains on his illustrious Manchester City career – but boss Pep Guardiola still managed to attract the headlines by making a demand to the club’s higher-ups regarding this summer’s all-important transfer window.
In their pursuit of Champions League football, Guardiola – widely regarded as one of the best football managers of all time – and his men picked up what was a routine 3-1 victory over Bournemouth. Omar Marmoush, Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez all scored.
But for the first time over an eight-year period, the eight-time Premier League champions will conclude the season without adding silverware to their cabinet and Guardiola, in his post-match interview, pleaded with the powers that be at the Etihad Stadium.
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Guardiola’s Summer Plea to Man City Bosses
'I don’t want that. I will quit'
It was an emotional evening for the Catalonia-born tactician, what with De Bruyne stepping out onto the Etihad for the last time in sky blue, but Guardiola quickly turned the attention to the summer period and the activity expected in east Manchester.
In fact, the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich helmsman has threatened to quit his position at the helm of Manchester City if the club’s higher-ups expand the size of his squad in the coming months. After his side’s 3-1 win, the 54-year-old said:
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“Now it happened because we added four players… maybe three or four months we could not select eleven players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult,” Guardiola continued before adding, “After people came back and next season it cannot be like that.”
Manchester City spent thoroughly in January to remain competitive on all possible fronts. The aforementioned Marmoush, one of the best strikers in world football, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez were all welcomed.
"It’s impossible for my soul to put the players in the tribune and cannot play. As a manager, I cannot be training 24 players and every time I select there has to be four, five, six staying in Manchester at home because they can’t play.”
"Now it happened to add players," he said, per The Guardian, referencing the club's busy January. "Maybe [for] three, four months we couldn’t select 11 players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult. After people come back but next season it cannot be like that.
The reason why Manchester City invested north of £200 million in the 2024/25 mid-season trading period was due to the fact that plenty of stars were missing through injury, including the Ballon d’Or-winning Rodri in the heart of the midfield.