Pep Guardiola is excited to work with his three new players for Manchester City as he gave a positive assessment on their summer transfer business that has seen three key players leave.
Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega have replaced Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Oleks Zinchenko and Fernandinho, while Zack Steffen has left on loan and a number of academy players have departed permanently or on loan.
It’s been an unusually busy summer for City in the transfer market, and there is some risk in allowing the three key outfield players to depart, but Guardiola was positive when reviewing the club’s business so far, explaining why Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko left for a combined £122m.
“So far I am so excited and so happy,” he said. “Sometimes the market was strange for us. Normally we are a team that buy and didn’t sell much. This summer for different reasons, we sell some players.
“Sometimes you want to do it but you can’t. This summer it happened so quick. not just first-team players, academy and loan players. New players have come and we continue with them.”
Guardiola also hinted that he would have been more than happy for Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko to stay, repeating his long-held stance that unhappy players will be allowed to leave.
“No [the outgoings weren’t guaranteed] because I was incredibly happy with Gabriel, Oleks and Raheem,” Guardiola said. “If they stayed longer there would be no problem. They proved last year how good they are.
“But sometimes the players want more, and the club feel it is the right moment to do it. But the most important thing is they leave happy with the club and what they have done.
“Normally when you talk about transfers in Spain, Germany, England it is 10 per cent more. It happens and we know it. It happens because they are really good. They are the best ages and their best years are maybe coming now. That’s why they have a value in the market.
“Chelsea and Arsenal have paid the money that is fair. And the discussions were perfect, Txiki [Begiristain] told me. Good for both sides and really friendly.”
Moving onto his new signings, Guardiola said personality is just as important as any other consideration when weighing up a transfer.
He explained: “One of the things I am trying to discover is if he is a nice guy. I don’t like to work much with guys who are not nice. When you have a locker room and the chemistry is good, that is worth more than hours of tactics.
“This summer we have bought some exceptional people. And the rest we know each other. And we are sad because Raheem, Gabriel and Oleks were incredibly beloved. Since I arrived in Manchester, the chemistry has been incredible. It makes things good for me.”
