Pep Guardiola sets Man City squad deadline amid transfer uncertainty

Manchester City have had a busy transfer window and Pep Guardiola is ready to finalise his squad this week.

Pep Guardiola has been pleased with Nico Gonzalez's development at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola is confident he has built a Manchester City squad that can withstand the test of time, but he will give a fuller appraisal of its merits when the transfer window closes next week.

It has been a busy summer at the Etihad with six new signings already in place and a series of key departures as well, with the promise of more to come this week.

Guardiola played down the idea that the uncertainty enveloping his squad had an unsettling effect at the start of the season. His side fell to a tame 2-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday.

Manuel Akanji and Ilkay Gundogan were left out of that squad, with City keen to sell both players this week, and Ederson was on the bench, with his own future clouded in mystery with just a week of the transfer window to go.

Despite the expectation that several senior players will still depart before next Monday's 7pm deadline, Guardiola said standards remained high in training and instead focused on the squad he has built.

Six of the starting XI against Tottenham were signed in 2025, which shows the pace of change. The City boss believes it is now a group that can stay together for the next few years, although he is reserving final judgment until the end of the window.

"This is the team we’re going to have for the next years," said Guardiola. "We have a squad and when it’s finished next Sunday, ask me about the squad I have and we’ll move forward."

All four of City's major summer signings started the game against Spurs, although Rayan Ait-Nouri limped off with an ankle injury and will be assessed by the club's medical team.

There was also another start for £50million January addition Nico Gonzalez, who has re-established himself in the team. With Rodri only on the bench and Mateo Kovacic still injured, the Spanish midfielder has started in the holding role in both Premier League games so far.

That has ended speculation that he could have been sold just over six months after arriving. Having fallen out of favour, he is now back in the side after an improvement in training, and Gonzalez's evolution is one of several areas where Guardiola is happy with his squad.

"I felt in the training sessions that Nico made a step forward, Tijjani (Reijnders) is going there," he said. "I imagined when against Spurs or against Brentford in the past, when we are able to drop them they defend so deep.

"Then you need quality, vision, like (Rayan) Cherki, who is extraordinary. I knew Rico (Lewis) is really good playing inside in the small spaces. It depends how the opponent defends. We didn’t read it. It’s not a big problem. When we arrived in the positions, we lose the simple things because we needed the continuity with the pass – we cannot attack in three or four passes. We missed it a little bit."

It was a tough afternoon on Saturday for Cherki, who continues to star when coming off the bench but struggled to influence the game before being withdrawn after 54 minutes, although Guardiola called for patience with the 21-year-old.

"He had an incredible 20 minutes. Involved in the small spaces, the creativity to find the wingers and Erling (Haaland). They had good movements. It was the first game, he will learn, keep going," he said.

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