Guardiola says he’d rather quit Man City than have a bloated squad as he plans rebuild

MANCHESTER England AP Pep Guardiola disclosed he would rather leave Manchester City than have to work with a bloated squad next season The City manager has begun to rebuild his club after the club s first trophyless campaign since But he stated Tuesday he had stated the club that he will walk away rather than oversee an oversized squad I noted to the club I don t want that I don t want to leave five or six players in the tribune Guardiola stated after the - win against Bournemouth I don t want that I will quit Make a shorter squad I will stay It s impossible for my soul to give leave my players in the tribune that they cannot play Guardiola left James McAtee Savinho and Rico Lewis out of his squad for Tuesday s Premier League battle He had to make similarly tough calls for Saturday s FA Cup final loss against Crystal Palace He has traditionally liked to work with a smaller squad but a spate of injuries this season including knee surgery for Rodri severely hampered City s title defense which unraveled by Christmas City spent more than million in January to try to salvage the campaign brining in Omar Marmoush Nico Gonzalez Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis Guardiola is expected to make major signings in the offseason with Kevin De Bruyne leaving as a free agent and Kyle Walker also likely to go but has made it clear he wants to keep his squad numbers down I don t want to have players when everyone is fit he noted If I have injuries unlucky We have particular players for the academy and we do it We cannot sustain for the emotion of the club the soul of the club create another connection with each other that this season we lost it a bit James Robson is at https twitter com jamesalanrobson AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source