I do agree entirely with the list, problem is Kovacic injured, cannot sell prob this window, stones said he wants to stay and Gundog looking great at the min!
I think a few loans will be involved.
Stay & see out their contracts as a squad players. Or they can leave for new challenges as champions & club legends.
Kovacic's injury isn't like Rodri's. I still feel someone will take a punt on him making a full recovery.
It can't just be me who noticed how desperate everyone was to play & prove themselves against Al Ain. Even though Bobb scored, you could see the frustration in his face that his timing, match sharpness & effectiveness weren't there, especially after last summers brilliant pre-season displays.
Cherki was the same in the first CWC match. However, when one of our attacks broke down last night & Al Ain played the ball through their midfield, & were robbed by a tackle midway through our half, it was Cherki who'd tracked him from the opposition area, & took the ball off him.
Cherki then out-skilled the player, found the brilliant Ait Noiri with a reverse pass, & RAN made that cross across the box that everyone failed to connect with. And here's me being told Cherki is crap defensively!
As for Rayan Ait Noiri, he had a similar effect on his debut as did Rudolph. All those arguments about "Pep doesn't like FB's" & "Pep prefers CB's who are versatile" were laid bare last night. We saw the massive difference that a fleet-footed, skillfull & industrious FB made to us. Now imagine RAN with Doku ahead of him or Livramento with Savio ahead of him?
Then we have the development of Bobb, Lewis, Khusanov, Reis, Gonzalez, O'Reilly & Echeverri etc. They need to be properly blooded & fully integrated into the squad, & not stuck on the sidelines watching those playing out the final season of their City careers, who're blocking their path.
I get the feeling many of these squad decisions have been taken out of Pep's hands. Rinsing the same elite set of players for 60+ games per season, season after season has taken a devastating toll.
I like the look of City having two elite teams who can rotate, or at worst, a larger squad where players can be properly rested & rotated throughout a gruelling season.
Football has changed & Pep will just have to accept the challenging demands of the modern game. Last season was enough. It's time to move on & transition into a new dynamic version of the predictable plodders we became during 2024-25.
