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 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.

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