Man City squad deadline could force players to accept transfer reality

Manchester City learnt their Champions League opponents on Thursday and now the next task is to submit a squad to UEFA.

Manuel Akanji is likely to leave Manchester City in the next few days

With three days of the transfer window to go, heads are still in a spin at Manchester City. "We are working," director of football Hugo Viana said in Monaco after attending Thursday's Champions League draw.

City have been working all summer, but with the deadline now just over 72 hours away, they still have plenty of work to do. As Pep Guardiola has repeated again and again, this squad is too big.

The biggest issue for Viana to solve is finding a solution for the future of Ederson and any interest in signing Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris St-Germain. Dominoes must start to fall to make that happen.

That is a one-in, one-out deal, but beyond that, there is an expectation that at least two and perhaps three first-team players could move on before Monday's 7pm deadline. On Tuesday City will submit their 25-man squad to UEFA for their eight Champions League fixtures and as it stands, Guardiola knows he can't include everyone.

UEFA's rules on homegrown players mean some senior City stars would be left out, and right now, the prospects of Champions League football for Stefan Ortega, Manuel Akanji, and Ilkay Gundogan look slim.

Ortega has been expected to leave ever since James Trafford signed from Burnley for £27million, and there is interest from Bundesliga clubs in the 32-year-old. One complication for City is that one of Ederson or Ortega will be needed in the squad that will travel to Brighton. That group will travel on Saturday and return on Sunday evening, which significantly impacts the time available to complete a transfer.

Akanji has plenty of interest from around Europe and in the Premier League and should be able to finalise a move this weekend. There is also interest in Gundogan, but nothing is as advanced so far on an exit for the 34-year-old midfielder.

When Guardiola selects his squad for Sunday's trip to the Amex, Akanji and Gundogan might well be the ones to miss out again. That will make it clear they are also likely to miss out on Champions League selection, which could force their hand when it comes to transfers.

City's players posed for portrait photographs for the 2025/26 Champions League earlier this month, and Akanji and Gundogan were both snapped ahead of this season's competition. But that might be where their involvement in Europe's premier competition with the Blues ends this season.

City had hoped to have trimmed that first-team squad by now, but with the clock ticking ever louder towards deadline day, that hasn't been the case. Guardiola hates having to tell senior players they aren't playing, and he won't enjoy those kinds of conversations with Akanji and Gundogan.

But then he has been honest about the size of his squad all summer, and with the deadline for Champions League selection looming, the reality might now be hitting home for some.

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