Pep Guardiola confirms significant first-team changes at Manchester City during summer transfer market

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola appears to have confirmed reports indicating the club are prepared to make significant changes to the first-team in the summer.

Following the club’s difficult exit from European competition at the hands of Real Madrid in a last-16 play-off tie earlier this week, reports started to indicate the magnitude of the changes that could take place at the Etihad Stadium regarding the first-team playing squad.

It was claimed in various outlets that the Premier League champions would be open to as many as eight first-team exits across the summer market, including the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Ilkay Gundogan as part of a midfield overhaul.

Kyle Walker already has one step in the exit door with his loan move to AC Milan including an option to buy, while Manchester City could also field offers for the likes of Ederson, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, and Jack Grealish.

A large part of that feeling towards several players has been their inability to physically compete at the very highest level that Manchester City strive to be at, as indicated by the sheer lack of energy and legs in high-profile European outings this campaign.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, Pep Guardiola told reporters that conversations must be had with all involved over the future of the squad as a direct result of reoccurring injury and fitness issues.

“We have to sit down with the doctors, the physios, the players, their agents, to be clear that some of them cannot sustain (playing) every three days, every month or two months, playing every two or three days. This is the reality,” Guardiola admitted to reporters.

He continued, “The reality is that for the future, if the club wants to be there (competing at the highest level) again, we have to be with players fit and available.

“And it can happen sometimes (players sustaining injuries), but already it’s many times it’s happened… Teams are quicker, faster, stronger, and many things, and we cannot handle it right now – this is the reality.”

Among the names that could be explored by Manchester City during the summer transfer window are Juventus’ versatile full-back Andrea Cambiaso, after the Italy international emerged as a player of interest during the winter market.

While City were keen to shut down the idea of a transfer taking place at the halfway stage of the campaign, the club did not reject the notion of interest in the 24-year-old, and as such there is a belief that conversations could intensify in and around the FIFA Club World Cup.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz is also understood to be a primary target albeit ambitious, with some within Manchester City viewing the exciting German attacking midfielder as the best possible replacement for Kevin De Bruyne.