Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the club needs to sign more players to build a squad big enough to meet the challenges of a busy football schedule.
“It made me reflect that in this calendar you need a squad with 25, 30 players. It will be more difficult for the club financially. People say, what’s the problem?’ The problem is the schedule,” Guardiola said on Friday.
“Sooner or later it will happen to all clubs. When we won the treble (in 2023), four at home, we had one, two, three injuries, but we were very stable. So we could compete, and now we can’t,” he added.
City have been hit by injuries to the form of the defending Premier League champions this season, with Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden injured.
Guardiola is currently in uncharted territory in his managerial career and City have won just once in their last 10 matches, losing 7 and drawing 2, with last week’s defeat to Juventus in the Champions League. They are also fourth in the Premier League table, eight points behind league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
“We’re sad, I’m sad for the players because they fight with the way they run and the situation they’re in. Our fans, maybe they’re sad. I totally understand because we’ve had seven games, eight games in a season or two seasons, and now (in a month and a half) We can lose,” Guardiola said.
Manchester City’s next derby is against Manchester United on Sunday.
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