Pep Guardiola: Manchester City's Absence In The Champions League Could Damage Transfer Plans

Pep Guardiola wants to make sure Manchester City qualify for the Champions League next season so as not to damage the transfer plan (Instagram/@mancity).

JAKARTA - Pep Guardiola has warned that Manchester City could lose their main transfer target if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

The Citizens are in fifth place in the Premier League standings with six games remaining ahead of their trip to Everton on Saturday, 19 April 2025, WIB night.

The fifth position will be good enough to get a place in next season's Champions League, but Chelsea and Aston Villa are only one point behind them.

Guardiola is expected to oversee the reshuffle of his squad in the summer after a disappointing season.

However, he acknowledged that clubs could find it difficult to get their priority players if no Champions League games were offered at the Etihad Stadium.

"That's a good question. It depends on the players we want and do they only have one choice."

"If they have more, I'm sure the players will look at the teams playing in the Champions League, of course," said Guardiola.

ESPN news source said Bayer Leverkusen striker Florian Wirtz was one of the names on Manchester City's main list to replace Kevin De Bruyne.

However, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are also showing interest in the midfielder, where both teams will play in the Champions League next season.

"I don't know. Maybe the players still come and someone says they don't want to leave because there is no Champions League."

"I don't know. I didn't talk to a single player for the next season, so I don't know," said Guardiola.

Manchester City has invested 180 million pounds in new players in January 2025 and is expected to bring in more new players ahead of next season.

De Bruyne is the only player confirmed to leave so far, despite doubts surrounding the future of a number of senior squad members.

Guardiola usually wants to work with a small group of first-team players and hints that despite suffering a number of injuries this season, he wants to continue doing so.

"I have a big squad now and one or two players can't even travel to Goodison Park and it's terrible. It's terrible."

"It doesn't make sense for the players, they don't even sit on the bench. They stay at home and wonder what I'm doing here? They can't do their job."

"The most important thing is to analyze who will be more reliable. This is important."

"If a player is reliable, okay, we don't need more players."

"If a player will be like this season, playing only 20 percent, 25 percent of the game, if he stays, maybe we need another player in that position because he is unreliable."

"The question is next season. If we have an unreliable player, and they will stay here, we have to make a bigger squad."

"However, that's the balance we have to find by talking and talking and talking," said the Spaniard.