In the last two summers, City have postponed much of the rebuild; two of the six recruits in that time are now in the band of 30-somethings. And while Guardiola said it was harder to be stable defensively without a quartet of centre backs and two holding midfielders, arguably he only has one: Mateo Kovacic does not covet that role.

Manchester City's winless streak grew to six games on Tuesday and in surprising fashion, blowing a 3-0 lead to tie 3-3 with Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League. In the process, City became the first team in UCL history to fail to win a match after leading by three goals in the 75th minute,

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has moved to clarify a light-hearted remark he made about wanting to harm himself following his team’s match in the Champions League.