Guardiola says Man City rebuild will not be his toughest task

Pep Guardiola does not believe rebuilding his Manchester City side after an uninspiring season will be the toughest challenge of his career.

Four-time defending champions City are 20 points adrift of the Premier League summit, having suffered their eighth league defeat of 2024-25 against leaders Liverpool on Sunday.

This is the furthest City have been from the top of the table at the end of a matchday since July 14, 2020, when they were 21 points behind Liverpool’s last title-winning team.

City were also dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last week, meaning the FA Cup offers their only remaining shot at silverware this campaign.

The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson – all stalwarts of 2022-23’s treble-winning team – have all been linked with exits.

But when asked if City’s upcoming rebuild represented the toughest task of his coaching career, Guardiola said: “No. We’ve done it already.

“After nine years, this is not the same team that we started with nine years ago. We’ve done it two or three times already, so it’s not the biggest challenge.

“The biggest was when I was first starting my managerial career with my staff and a lot of tasks we had.

“We were together and proved to myself and our staff that we could do it.”

Straight back at it! pic.twitter.com/vnY1CtnoEe

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 24, 2025

City, who visit Tottenham for their next Premier League game on Wednesday, have already begun the process of refreshing their squad, making four mid-season signings.

Defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, midfielder Nico Gonzalez and forward Omar Marmoush all arrived for significant fees, and Guardiola has been pleased by their showings thus far.

“They’ve been really good for the short time they had in training, really good,” Guardiola said.

“Khusanov arrived and played against Chelsea, Newcastle, Real Madrid, Liverpool – all tough and difficult schedules from where they [new signings] come from.

“Khusanov doesn’t speak English fluently, so the impact is good. Omar as well – Nico has played less, but they have been really good.

“We’re satisfied and of course Vitor, when he has had minutes, it’s a good level he shows.”