THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Three elite signings would help Guardiola make Manchester City champions again says Xavi
BARCELONA legend Xavi has urged Manchester City to buy “three exceptional” players to help Pep Guardiola turn them into champions once again.
City are facing an inquest after their shock Champions League exit to Lyon in Lisbon on Saturday.
Guardiola – whose agent said yesterday was “100 per cent staying at City” – changed his tactics and formation but the plan backfired as his side lost 3-1 and failed to progress past the quarter-final stage for the fourth season in a row.
Xavi made more than 700 appearances for Barcelona and helped make them the best side in the world when Guardiola was boss.
He won the Champions League four times, two of them under Guardiola when they beat Manchester United in 2009 and 2011. “To not win one of the Premier League or Champions League will be a big disappointment for Pep – those are the two he would have wanted,” said Xavi.
“The Champions League even more so because Manchester City have never won it. They have some very good players, of course, but Pep needs to be supported in the transfer market this summer.
“It is not that they need many players – just three exceptional ones. We know that will not come cheap – but I would like to see Pep given the money to rebuild.”
Midfield star David Silva has left, while Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero are nearing the end of their time at the club.
And Xavi believes City have paid the price for not replacing captain Vincent Kompany when he left last summer to join Anderlecht as playermanager. The former Spanish international, who won 133 caps and the World Cup in 2010, says the likes of Kompany, Silva and Aguero will be almost impossible to replace.
He added: “They have got to the stage you see at all big clubs, where some very important players are coming to the end of their careers.
“Kompany was one of the world’s best central defenders and there are maybe one or two defenders in the world that can replace him at his peak.
“For Silva, it is the same – he is a once-in-a-generation player and it is going to cost big money to try and replace him. Aguero has one season left – how many strikers in Europe are there that will guarantee you 30 goals a season like he has for so long?”
The crushing defeat by Lyon was a huge blow and questions are now being asked after City finished their campaign with just one trophy – the Carabao Cup.