Eighty to ninety percent of our squad will remain the same for next season, asserts Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola stated that it is impossible to bring in nine players next season and so he expects his existing players to raise the bar. The Cityzens will finish second in the Premier League for this season, with them still 18 points behind title winners Liverpool, with a couple of games on hand.
Manchester City’s UEFA competitions ban was lifted barely a week ago, which mostly overshadowed the disappointment of them failing to defend their Premier League title. On the other hand, the humiliating 0-2 loss to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final at the Wembley inflicted fresh wounds towards the end of the season. But, Cityzens boss Pep Guardiola is eager to make a quick turnaround next season and has already hinted at a few imports this summer, even though he wants his existing players to raise the bar.
“It depends on the players we’ll have next season, it depends on the quality of each one as to how we adapt the way we attack and defend. New players can maybe come or maybe not, it will not change the freshness of the team completely. Everyone has to be fresh - not just one or maybe none or two or three or 10 or 20 - all of us have to freshen up our minds and bodies and desires to continue to be competitive in all the competitions,” said Pep Guardiola, to reporters on Tuesday.
“If you bring in eight or nine players, which is impossible, you change a lot, the mentality or the freshness or the way you want to play. But I think 80 per cent or 85 per cent or 90 per cent of the team will be the same so it depends on the people who are here,” added the manager.
Even though the City line up boasts of having star strikers like Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, might consider signing someone upfront with the Argentine entering into the final 12 months of his contract.