Pep Guardiola took over at Manchester City with the expectations and hype going through the roof. But although he had a talented squad at his disposal, to City’s discredit, they had let the squad grow old together over the years and despite having all the top-quality think-tank and the financial resource, somewhere or the other they fell short.
And Pep knew of that when he came in and an ideal situation would have been to sanction a complete overhaul of the club but such a thing is not feasible. So he decided to invest heavily in attack and played the waiting game when it came to defence.
But with three-quarters of the season gone and the team out of the Champions League and League cup and almost out of reckoning of the Premier League title, the criticism is mounting on the Catalan. But he is too smart to fall into the trappings and get pressurised by the talk surrounding him.
But even then, he recognises the need to get fresh faces in and for that a number of the present crop have to leave.
Let us take a look at 3 players who will make an exit in the summer.
PABLO ZABALETA
The Argentine might have to make way in the summer and is one of the marked ones in defence mainly because of his age and also due to his tired legs which do not allow him to last the 90 minutes carrying out Pep’s high-intensity demands. He has been a great servant for the club but if recent signs are to be considered, his time is slowly nearing its end.
VINCENT KOMPANY
Another heart-wrenching exit if it happens, which seems to be the case if viewed logically. Kompany or indeed his body has simply failed to bear the brunt of a being a professional football player at the highest level in the last two years and there are serious concerns around Etihad regarding the feasibility of the talismanic Belgian carrying on.
FABIAN DELPH
The player is somewhat the final player in a series of inexplicable buys by the City hierarchy in the last couple of years and has expectedly fallen short of the quality or demands of the club and its objectives. Another victim of injuries to an extent but there are concerns regarding how much he would have impacted anyway. The former Aston Villa man is surely on his way out with Gundogan likely to return at the start of the next season.
