Pep Guardiola faces a rebuild at Manchester City after signing a contract extension, with seven key players in “natural decline,” according to Alan Shearer.
Guardiola has won six Premier League titles in his time at the club, including the last four, and also led City to their first Champions League title.
Guardiola has won six Premier League titles in his time at the club (Pic – EPA/Antonio Pedro Santos)
The Spaniard was set to leave the club at the end of the season before signing a one-year extension earlier this week, with the option of a further year which would keep him at the club until the end of the 2026/2027 season.
It means he will be heading what looks to be a significant rebuild at the club, with a number of their older players like Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson heavily linked with moves away.
Alan Shearer picked the seven members of Guardiola’s squad who are “in a state of natural decline” and believes “it’s a big ask” for the current group to win the Premier League title again.
The ex-Newcastle striker said: “Looking through their current squad, you’ve got Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Ederson and even John Stones who are all 30+ years old, so you could argue the bulk of their squad is in a state of natural decline.
“However, you could also argue whether a little bit of their hunger may have also decreased, because a lot of those players have been incredibly successful and I don’t care who or what you are, it’s difficult to keep going again, again and again.
“They’ve done it so many times now so it’s a big ask for them to come back and go again, and only time will tell. They also have the off-field charges that have been put to them as a football club to deal with, and the questions that are going to be asked there too.
“Plenty of people will say that the current charges hanging over City shouldn’t affect the players that are on the pitch, ‘they just have to go out and play’, and I understand that, but ultimately what happens at the top of the football club always filters its way down to the pitch at some stage.
“It shouldn’t do but often it does. Having said all that, if you ask me if they’ll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, my answer to that would be yes.”
