Mumbai, May 21: Pep Guardiola said he would rather leave Manchester City than have to work with a bloated squad next season. The City manager has begun to rebuild his team after the club's first trophyless campaign since 2017. But he said on Tuesday he had told the club that he will walk away rather than oversee an oversized squad. Guardiola left James McAtee, Savinho and Rico Lewis out of his squad for Tuesday's Premier League game. He had to make similarly tough calls for Saturday's FA Cup final loss against Crystal Palace. Premier League 2024-25: Manchester City Drop Crucial Points as Southampton Hold Pep Guardiola's Men for Goalless Draw.

"I said to the club I don't want that. I don't want to leave five or six players in the tribune. I don't want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay. It's impossible for my soul to give (leave) my players in the tribune, that they cannot play,"  Guardiola said after the 3-1 win against Bournemouth.

He has traditionally liked to work with a smaller squad, but a spate of injuries this season — including knee surgery for Rodri — severely hampered City's title defense, which unraveled by Christmas. City spent more than $200 million in January to try to salvage the campaign, brining in Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

Guardiola is expected to make major signings in the offseason, with Kevin De Bruyne leaving as a free agent and Kyle Walker also likely to go, but has made it clear he wants to keep his squad numbers down. FA Cup 2024–25 Final: Crystal Palace Defy Odds To Lift First Major Title With 1–0 Win Over Manchester City.

"I don't want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If I have injuries, unlucky. We have some players for the academy and we do it. (We) cannot sustain for the emotion of the club, the soul of the team, create another connection with each other that this season we lost it a bit," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)