Manchester City tell out of contract players they have three months to earn stay
Manchester City have six first-team players heading for the free agents market this summer as things stand. Pep Guardiola says those individuals now have three months to earn a stay at the club.
Manchester City look to be heading for a summer of change. One area that will need to be addressed is the number of first-team members currently set to be out of contract after this season.
Yaya Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Willy Caballero, Jesus Navas, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy all have deals set to expire after the current campaign ends. Pep Guardiola is still assessing his squad as his first year at Manchester City draws towards a close.
The City boss claims the club will not make a decision on any of the six players set to be free agents until this season ends, reports the Telegraph. Essentially, the group are now on trial for the next three months.
City will be taking the chance that one of the players could agree a move elsewhere during that time. However, none of the players are really pivotal to the team at this stage. It’s just a case of Guardiola seeing who can be useful for him in some way and who can be let go.
Were it big names in this position, the club would certainly not be so casual. But Guardiola has a rebuilding job of sorts to continue in the summer market anyway. Freeing up a few squad places, and some money from the wage bill, is not necessarily a bad thing.
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Somebody will have to go for players to come in. So who of the six should be let go and who still offers something to the team? As mentioned, all of the six are replaceable, really. None are the future and some are barely the present.
Toure is the biggest name on the list. The Ivorian is still fantastic technically, but suffers physically in the fast-paced Premier League. Maybe Guardiola finds a role for Toure somewhere in the squad, but it’s not an easy decision. Toure is probably the hardest call Guardiola will have to make.
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Zabaleta and Sagna are both at risk with City needing a new, younger right-back this summer. One may be kept on as an experienced backup option, but probably not both. Zabaleta is a hero to the City fans, so perhaps his presence and leadership will earn him a stay ahead of Sagna.
Clichy is in a similar position at left back. The club need new blood, and with Aleksandar Kolarov still having a year to go on his deal, the 31-year-old Frenchman should probably make way for a new recruit. It’s time now.
Meanwhile, Navas has never truly established himself in the starting XI for Manchester City. Now that look even more unlikely with Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane looking like the future of the club. Navas has been linked with a return to Sevilla and it’s hard to imagine him staying on at City.
Lastly, there’s Caballero. The Argentine represents an interesting case for Pep Guardiola. The goalkeeping position is a bit of a mess right now. Claudio Bravo was signed to be the new number one, but the Chilean’s form has been so bad that he has now been dropped to the bench.
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Will City look for a new number one in the summer? You would have to think so. Caballero is not the man for the job long term. But he could still stay on as the number two option. Why not? If Bravo leaves, maybe Caballero earns a new deal as the backup option.
City and Guardiola have some interesting decisions to take once the summer rolls around. For six players in particular, it seems their future at the club will be decided by their form between now and the summer.