Guardiola Informs Players to Fight for First-Teams Spots Within Expensively Assembled Squad
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refused to guarantee any member of his expensive squad a starting place in the club's future matches.
In a report by Sky Sports, the comment came amid Pep's request that even his star players must 'fight for a place' within his starting line-up.
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City have spent more than £200m in strengthening their squad over the summer in a bid to regain the Premier League title.
Already it seems Guardiola has more choice in terms of personnel and systems, with two of last season's stars, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling, not even starting in last week's season opener at Brighton.
It was certainly an indication of how competitive the battle will be to secure a place in the starting eleven, mainly due to City's vast array of options in all areas of the pitch.
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The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said: "Hopefully they will understand that at the big clubs, you cannot have 11 players, so they have to compete with each other.
"For example, the last game in Brighton, Leroy didn't play from the beginning. It was a key point and I changed our dynamic a little bit in front. Raz (Sterling), when he played minutes, he played good.
"In that kind of level in the Premier League, the people who are 12, 13, 14 and play in the game, they are so, so important.
"When the game is in the last 15 or 20 minutes, the opponent is tired and we've moved them during the game, we can put into the game dynamic players like Bernardo Silva, Raz (Sterling) or Sane. In another game maybe it's Sergio (Aguero) or Gabriel (Jesus). So it's a point where we can win games in the last minutes."
Despite the Spanish manager's seemingly heavy squad, it appears that the former champions are still intent on adding to it, with another move for West Brom's defensive rock Jonny Evans possibly still in the pipeline.
It remains to be seen whether they bid again, look elsewhere or proceed with the options they have in that position, which could include restoring Eliaquim Mangala to full first-team duties after his season at Valencia.
Guardiola denies this is a snub to Academy graduate Tosin Adarabioyo and insists the highly-rated 19-year-old, who signed a new contract over the summer, will have to earn his chance.
Guardiola said: "We have just three central defenders right now and we have Tosin and Mangala. What is the best for the club?
"We're going to see what is the best for him and for everybody. He knows the situation from last season. Now we may be looking for a central defender - and they knew that last season - at the beginning of the season."
