'Four or five' - Pep Guardiola expects more Man City departures this month

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the need for a smaller squad as they start the new campaign

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola expects more departures from Manchester City this month as he prepares to leave two players at home for the trip to Wolves. Savinho, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol are all out through injury but City's squad is so big that there are too many to make a Premier League squad.

It is a position that City found themselves in towards the end of last season after bringing in five new players in the winter transfer window and seeing their injury problems finally ease. Jack Grealish and James McAtee have departed this week to free up some room but with five new arrivals in the summer transfer window the squad is still bigger than Guardiola would like.

City's manager expects that to change in the final weeks of the transfer window, although does not think the Blues are in a vastly different position than many of their rivals. With Gvardiol and Kovacic expected back though even if Savinho completes a move to Tottenham, the players know that anyone who stays has a risk of being left out on a matchday.

"A little bit but I think at many clubs it happens the same. We should but it's difficult because I love all of them and they like to be here," he said.

"The situation is not easy but they know it. We have a lot of players and tomorrow there will be two players in the tribune and when players come back there will be four or five at home.

"It's not ideal but at the same time we have a lot of games, every season is more and more, and you have to have a squad to compete in every single game.

"I think it happens in many teams that they have big squads and have to move them because every manager wants to work with the right number of people because they deserve to play. They have to find a balance and desire from the club and especially from the players after we will decide."

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