‘I will quit’ - Guardiola threatens to leave Man City if the owners fail to comply with his request

The Spaniard has previously stated his preference for managing a smaller squad, with 20 senior players.

Premier League clubs are permitted to name a 25-man squad for each season. However, this does not represent the complete list of players who can participate.

However, Guardiola expressed dissatisfaction with having to exclude several senior Manchester City players from the squad that secured a 3-1 victory against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Guardiola has revealed that he does not want depth in his squad and prefers a smaller group of players for the next season.

According to BBC, he said, "I said to the club I don't want that [a bigger squad]. I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. 

“I don't want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay. It's impossible for my soul to [tell] my players in the tribune [stands] that they cannot play."

Guardiola acknowledges the challenge of consistently excluding players from Manchester City's matchday squad.

He continued, "Maybe [for] three, four months we couldn't select 11 players; we didn't have defenders; it was so difficult. After, people came back, but next season it cannot be like that.

"As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club, I don't want that."

Manchester City invested over £200 million in four January signings, Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Vitor Reis. 

Additionally, Echeverri, signed in 2024 from River Plate, also joined the Etihad Stadium after his loan back to the Argentine club concluded.

As it stands, Manchester City's website indicates a first-team squad of 28 players, in addition to four players currently on loan.