Guardiola gives his definition of a ‘small club’
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 12.11.23. | 12:59
City manager was asked about all the players he sold to rival clubs
Since becoming the coach, or at least since at the helm of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has done a lot of deals, and he always said the same – if a player wants to leave, he will not stand in his way. And he proved it many times while others around him wondered why he let this or that player go. The last proof of that was this offseason, when he sold a massive talent Cole Palmer to Chelsea. The talented youngster had started only three Premier League games while at City, but since switching Manchester with London, he has begun the last five for Mauricio Pochettino — scoring three goals.
🔵 Pochettino on Cole Palmer being compared to Juan Mata: "No, he is more like Angel Di Maria!".
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 11, 2023
"You can see his body and the way he moves, he's more similar to Di Maria". pic.twitter.com/aHLQYOAc8W
According to Pep, the player decided to leave even though he was about to finally get some playing time.
“I said to him “Riyad Mahrez is leaving, you are going to get a chance here”. ‘He said “No, I’m not going to play here, I want to leave” so I said “OK, leave!” revealed Guardiola.
The Spaniard was then asked about selling good/best players to the rival clubs, which is something most of the clubs in the world avoid. For example, Spurs supremo Daniel Levy is known for that and refused to do such deals in the past or ask for massive amounts for his footballers. Obviously, selling players like Sterling, Cole, Zinchenko, or Jesus means the Spanish tactician has no problem with that.
“We’d never stop a deal because of that. Why, if the transfer suits both clubs and the player? That means you are a small club. Big clubs make decisions for the benefit of all three parties. If a player wants to go to Chelsea or Manchester United or Liverpool, what is the problem if they are happy to be there and we are happy with the transfer? Another player comes here and we keep going with a good spirit. But that’s just my personal point of view, not the club’s” replied Guardiola.
PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 12
Saturday
Wolverhampton - Tottenham 2-1 (0-1)
/Sarabia 90+1, Lemina 90+7 - Johnson 3/
Arsenal - Burnley 3-1 (1-0)
/Trossard 45+1, Saliba 57, Zinchenko 74 - Brownhill 54/
Crystal Palace - Everton 2-3 (1-1)
/Eze 5 pen, Edouard 73 - Mykolenko 1, Doucoure 49, Gueye 86/
Manchester United - Luton 1-0 (0-0)
/Lindelof 59/
Bournemouth - Newcastle 2-0 (0-0)
/Solanke 60, 73/
Sunday
17.00: (1.25) Brighton (7.00) Sheffield Utd (12.0)
17.00: (1.45) Liverpool (4.80) Brentford (8.00)
17.00: (1.90) West Ham (3.60) Nott.Forest (4.50)
17.00: (1.57) Aston Villa (4.00) Fulham (6.00)
19.30: (5.40) Chelsea (3.70) Man.City (1.75)
***odds are subject to change
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