Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has surprisingly claimed that he could leave the team if he is unable to reduce the squad size.
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The Spanish tactician has claimed that he wants a smaller squad next season and claimed that he will step down as Manchester City coach if he does not get his wish, Manchester Evening News reported.
The former Barcelona boss was forced to leave Rico Lewis, Savinho, James McAtee and, Claudio Echeverri out of the squad for the win against Bournemouth.
The head coach reportedly spent 45 minutes deciding which players would be cut from his 20-man matchday squad and he surprisingly revealed that he would quit if the club does not adhere to his wish.
"I said to the club I don't want that [a bigger squad]," Guardiola said.
"I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don't want that. I will quit. If they make a shorter squad I will stay. It's impossible for my soul to [tell] my players in the tribune that they cannot play," the ex-Bayern Munich boss added.
Guardiola said he did not want to have a situation where he was forced to leave first-team players out of matchday squads.
"As a manager, I cannot train 24 players and, every time I select I have to have four, five, [or] 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," he said.
The six-time Premier League winner admitted that several players were likely to leave the club this season and admitted that he would make use of academy players to fill gaps.
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"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," he said.
