Pep vows to ring changes at the Etihad
PEP GUARDIOLA claims there will be a shake-up at Manchester City as he vowed to improve on his disappointing first season. Guardiola will begin rebuilding City’s squad straight after tomorrow’s final game at Watford, where he hopes to seal an automatic Champions League spot, and he wants at least five new players. Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, Tottenham’s Kyle Walker (inset, top), Juventus star Alex Sandro (inset, bottom) and Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk are his top targets as he pursues two full-backs, a centrehalf, an attacker and a goalkeeper. Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart and Jesus Navas lead those heading for the exit and Guardiola says he has already assessed who should stay and who should go. “I know about my players,” said the City boss. “I learned a lot about what we have to do to make these players better. “We are going to make changes but a lot of players are going to remain.” Guardiola, who will be back behind his desk on Monday planning for next season, admits City have much to do to close the gap on champions Chelsea. After his success at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Guardiola has endured a chastening debut campaign at the Etihad but is determined City will be serious title challengers next season. “Normally the big teams always fight until the end, and after that you can win or lose,” said the Spaniard. “In the Premier League we didn’t fight until the end for the results because two teams were better than us and we dropped a lot of points at home. “We must improve on that next season. “We are 15 points off first place. The gap to the leaders is big. “We have to work harder next season to reduce that gap.”