Kevin De Bruyne is set to lead a Man City clear out

Pep Guardiola embraces Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City after he was substituted off during the UEFA Champions League 2022/23 final match between FC Internazionale and Manchester City FC at Ataturk Olympic Stadium on June 10, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

It’s been just about the worst season of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career, and after his recent broadside, Kevin De Bruyne is likely to head a Man City clear out.

There have been rumours that Barcelona’s Dani Olmo is already being looked at as a replacement for the Belgian playmaker, Man City are also eyeing Xavi Simons.

Pep Guardiola could ease Kevin De Bruyne and others out

In 2024/25, there’s just been one disaster after another, with the latest being that insipid performance in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

As a result of being dumped out of the premier European competition at such an early stage, Guardiola has fired a broadside at a number of his players who can’t seem to stay fit for any significant length of time.

According to The Guardian (subscription required), those players that can’t sustain two games a week at the highest level are likely to be dispensed with.

Those at risk include De Bruyne, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva.

“Doesn’t have a f**king CLUE about football!” – which of his former managers is Cristiano Ronaldo talking about?

“We have to sit down with the doctors, with physios, with the players, with the agents, and be clear that some of them cannot sustain every three days, every month, every two months, playing every three, four days,” Guardiola was quoted as saying.

“So this is the reality. There’s one more year, [then] a World Cup.”

Time for Kevin De Bruyne to face facts?

Given the depth of City’s malaise this season, Pep has the perfect excuse as to why certain players have to be moved on.

Of course, every successful team goes through periods of change, and Sir Alex Ferguson was the master of knowing when the time was right for some of his big names to be eased out of the Old Trafford exit door.

It would really shake things up a bit for Guardiola to do the same, however, it seems that no other course of action at this stage is going to suffice.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.