[sociallocker id=”199380″]Four-time Premier League winners Manchester City are set to lose as much as twelve players once the transfer window re-opens in June as a consequence of either contracts expiring or having fallen out of favour with manager Pep Guardiola.
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Out of the twelve players believed to be heading for the Etihad Stadium exit, half of them have contracts that are set to expire at the end of the season. They are defenders Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, and Bacary Sagna, anchorman Yaya Toure, winger Jesus Navas, and goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
The six players have been told they have only three months left to prove themselves worthy of a new contract or leave.
“They have to try to keep going, to convince me every day. There are six players out of contract but they know the situation,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
“Of course there is a risk, maybe they can sign a contract for another club and we have to accept that. But we are going to decide in the last months of the season,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach added.
Meanwhile, defenders Aleksandar Kolarov and Fernando will be entering the final 12 months of their contract in the summer and the Sky Blues have yet to enter into contract talks with the two. For his part, Guardiola has admitted he is in the dark regarding negotiations.
“I don’t speak with the agents, I speak with [City Director of Football] Txiki Begiristain so I don’t know if [the players] speak [with other clubs], maybe they can because it’s their agent’s job to do that,” the Spaniard said.
Meanwhile playmaker Samir Nasri, centre-back Eliaquim Mangala, keeper Joe Hart, and striker Wilfried Bony are thought to have fallen out of favour with their manager and are likely to leave the club in the summer as well. All of them are currently out on loan to other clubs.
Joe Hart, for one, is a target for Premier League rivals Arsenal – as the Gunners are keen to find a replacement for their shot-stopper Petr Cech.
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