Eleven Man City players are candidates to leave this summer as Pep Guardiola, Hugo Viana deal with “very complicated mess”

Manchester City are dealing with in a “very complicated mess” when it comes to trimming Pep Guardiola’s squad and complying with homegrown quota rules, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

A new era has begun at the Etihad Stadium where new director of football Hugo Viana has prioritised a squad rebuild alongside outgoing chief Txiki Begiristain during a transition period.

Following the addition of four January signings and the return of players from injury, Guardiola was reluctantly forced to leave out a number of players from his matchday squads towards the backend of last season.

Man City currently have 32 players on the books, including four new summer signings, but Guardiola decided to select only 27 in his squad for the Club World Cup, with the Citizens crashing out at the last-16 stage in the United States.

Guardiola was not comfortable with leaving players at home and has made it clear to Man City’s hierarchy that his squad must be slimmed down to avoid having “sad” and “unhappy” players next season.

Man City facing homegrown quota complications before new season

Ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, Man City are facing pressure to offload some of their foreign players in order to meet Premier League and UEFA's homegrown quota rules.

Premier League clubs must have eight homegrown players - those who have trained at any English club for at least three years before turning 21 - within a 25-man squad, but if they do not have enough homegrown players, then they are forced to reduce their overall squad size by omitting non-homegrown players.

The same rules apply for Man City in the Champions League, but four of their eight homegrown players must have trained with the Citizens for at least three years before turning 21.

Man City have already sanctioned the high-profile departures of Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Scott Carson - the latter two are both homegrown - while some young prospects have headed out on loan, but there are still a plethora of Citizens players who continue to be linked with an exit this summer.

Sharing his thoughts on how many more players could leave Man City this summer, McInerney told Sports Mole: “There is a whole bunch of players that need to move on... The problem is a lot of players that could potentially move on are homegrown - Nathan Ake, John Stones, Jack Grealish - which doesn't feel good.

“It's a very bloated squad. I presume three or four non-homegrown players need to be cut, and we need to potentially bring one in. It's looking complicated.

“Going through the squad, the ones that are locked in are [Erling] Haaland, [Ruben] Dias, Bernardo [Silva], Rodri, [Tijjani] Reijnders, [Omar] Marmoush, [Phil] Foden, [Rayan] Ait-Nouri, [Rayan] Cherki, Ederson, Savinho, [Jeremy] Doku, [Manuel] Akanji's locked in.

“But then you've got people like [Matheus] Nunes, Nico Gonzalez, [Abdukodir] Khusanov and Vitor Reis. [Claudio] Echeverri and [Maximo] Perrone will almost certainly leave. We do need a few players to move on, unfortunately.”

Gundogan, McAtee, Kovacic tipped to leave Man City

Although Ilkay Gundogan has expressed his desire to stay at Man City, McInerney expects the experienced midfielder to move on along with James McAtee, while Mateo Kovacic could be another who heads for the exit door if a suitable offer is received by the Citizens.

“I think Gundogan will move on,” said McInerney. “He's sort of had a bit of a farewell tour [at the Club World Cup]. As much as Guardiola loves him, I'd be amazed if people like Txiki and Hugo Viana aren't saying: ‘Sorry mate, we just have to, we have to make space here and we cannot keep the 34-year-old’.

“It just doesn't make any business sense whatsoever when you've brought in Reijnders, who essentially is a young Gundogan. He's so similar it’s remarkable.

“Kovacic, I am not convinced he stays. He might do, but I think that might be one of those where somebody comes out of nowhere. A Saudi club or a Turkish club, they've got a lot of money in Turkey right now.

“[Leroy] Sane’s just got about £350k a week (with Galatasaray), so do not be surprised if you see Kovacic and Gundogan pop up there, or some Saudi club comes in for one of these players.

“McAtee will go as well, and he is one club-trained player [but] Oscar Bobb can take that club-trained space, admittedly.”

Grealish, Stones could leave as City deal with “very complicated mess”

McInerney would also not be surprised to see Stones, Grealish and Josh Wilson-Esbrand depart, while youngsters including Reis, Khusanov and Echeverri - who all arrived in January - are potential candidates for a loan exit.

“It's a very complicated mess that City have got themselves into,” McInerney added. “We've seen Walker move on. I think Stones will move on... Last season we had Wilson-Esbrand registered. He won't be here, he'll be gone as well.

“Jack Grealish - no idea what's going on there. I think we'll see players move via loans. I think City will have to accept a little bit of a hit on that front.

“I think we'll see a loan for Vitor Reis. I really like him. I would love to see him stay and someone like Akanji move on personally, that's my preference as a fan. I just can't see it, Guardiola’s a big Akanji fan.

“You look at the centre-back options we've got: Akanji, Khusanov, Dias, Stones, Ake, Gvardiol and Vitor Reis. That's seven centre-backs there. Something has to give there.

“I think Echeverri might [leave on loan]. I think he's almost certain. It’s just that they can't register him as he’s not been at the club long enough (to be considered homegrown).

“I want to see people like Khusanov, Echeverri and Reis stay, but I think one of them might have to leave unfortunately, or maybe two or three of them on loan.”

Meanwhile, there have been conflicting reports over the future of January signing Nico Gonzalez, but McInerney believes that City would “stupid” to let the midfielder leave so soon after joining from Porto for £50m.

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Written by
Oliver Thomas