If Marc Guehi’s case was linked to Arsenal, fans would have sent a petition to the British government asking them to get involved. And of course this decision is one of the dumbest decisions we’ve seen in football in a long time.
Gehi, who joined Manchester City in January, will not be eligible to play in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, according to the latest confluence of football’s biggest names. Meanwhile, Antoine Semenyo, who also joined City in January, is also available.
Because that obviously makes sense, right?
The official reason for the discrepancy is that Semenyo was signed and registered by City before the first leg of the semi-final against Newcastle. Guehi was not available for the second leg of the semi-finals as he joined later, which is certainly not surprising.
But given that it was a different stage of the competition and was registered before the match took place, why wouldn’t Guehi be able to play in the final? If they can’t do that, why not outright ban all new contracts?
Of course, previously the competition was open to players who had already played in cup competitions, but that rule has been abolished and players can now play for two teams in a season. Guehi, who joined City for £20 million in January, was able to feature in the club’s FA Cup campaign despite being part of the Crystal Palace side that were eliminated by non-league side Macclesfield earlier this year.
Guardiola lamented the decision shortly after Gehi’s arrival, insisting that City would contact decision-makers to request changes. The Catalan coach said in February: “Hopefully the players will arrive in good health in March and I hope the Carabao Cup will convince Marc Gehi that he can play in the final.”
“Because I don’t understand why a club that invests so much in each of our players can’t play in the final.
“So let’s write a letter if we can, and hope the Carabao Cup understands. He can’t play with rules he doesn’t know why. Hopefully they can change it.”
This request went unheeded and Guehi will be watching from the stands when City play Arsenal.
