Pep Guardiola must do the one thing he's desperate not to for Man City vs Wolves

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Manchester City kick off their Premier League campaign against Wolves on Saturday

Manchester City kick off their Premier League campaign at Wolves on Saturday

Pep Guardiola has some big calls to make ahead of the Premier League opener against Wolves on Saturday.

City could hand out a clutch of debuts to new signings with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and James Trafford the headline arrivals this summer.

And while picking the XI is not an easy task, the biggest dilemma troubling Guardiola will be who to leave out of the squad altogether.

Jack Grealish's loan exit to Everton on Tuesday reduced the City head count by one but Guardiola still has multiple options at his disposal.

He's spoken time and again of his desire to work with a smaller squad and how difficult he found it in the second half of last season to leave out senior players.

That headache remains and even allowing for the potential absence of Rodri - who may well feature with the midfielder available but not expected to be fully fit until after the September international break - and Mateo Kovacic, who is sidelined until October.

Speaking in May, Guardiola said of City's squad size: "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."

City took 22 players to Italy for their friendly with Palermo - two more than they can include in a matchday squad - and that didn't include four players (Rodri, Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol and Claudio Echeverri) who were not fully fit and so left at home.

That would take the tally to 26 and while young prospect Divine Mukasa will likely drop out, it still leaves Guardiola facing a problem he was desperate to avoid.

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