Josep Guardiola was not happy to be asked about Manchester City’s plans for the January transfer window ahead of their Premier League trip to Sunderland
Manager Josep Guardiola accused Sky Sports of twisting his words during an awkward moment during Manchester City’s press conference on Wednesday. Guardiola spoke to reporters ahead of City’s Premier League game against Sunderland on New Year’s Day, but the press conference took an awkward turn.
City’s manager has always refused to raise the possibility of a transfer and was unwilling to discuss a move for Antoine Semenyo. City are already in positive talks with Bournemouth and are prepared to pay him a £65m release fee when the window opens in January.
But Guardiola had no intention of breaking his lifelong habit of informing the media.
When asked about the transfer, Guardiola replied: “You’re from Sky, right? OK, fine.” “You have to be careful about what you say. Then it will be exactly the opposite of what you write or put on screen.”
Guardiola was then asked about Oscar Bobb’s possible departure from City, with reports suggesting a £30m move to Borussia Dortmund could be on the table.
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“There is no news at the moment,” he said. “The winter transfer window is currently completely closed, so Sunderland…”
Mikel Arteta’s side beat third-placed Aston Villa 4-1 on Tuesday night, leaving the City Travelers five points behind Arsenal when they face the Black Cats on New Year’s Day.
However, there was some good news for the chasers with Jeremy Doku and Rodri returning from injury. This is especially important given that Bob, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic are out injured, while Rayan Eyt Nouri and Omar Marmouche are playing in the African Cup of Nations.
“Rodri is back,” Guardiola said. “Maybe he can play a few minutes. I’m looking forward to it. It could be Doc, but John and Oscar are different. In terms of the team, with this tight schedule, we’re not at our best right now. It’s right that we’re playing with the same players these days, but with our schedule…”
“We’ll be arriving (from Sunderland) at 2 or 3 in the morning. Two days later we’ll have Chelsea and then Brighton. They’re really tough opponents. We don’t have a lot of players to rotate.”
City won 3-0 when the two teams met at the Etihad Stadium on December 6, but Guardiola expects it to be a difficult fixture at the Stadium of Light.
He said: “They are very tough. The crowd is unbelievable. They beat Newcastle. Arsenal and Aston Villa couldn’t win there. They have had really good results. It will be completely different there, but at the same time we are ready.”
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