City signed four players for significant transfer fees during the winter transfer window as the club looked to rescue its season after an alarming drop-off during November and December, while Kyle Walker was the only first-teamer to depart.

That meant a number of first-team squad players had to be left out altogether when Liverpool faced Bournemouth earlier this week, prompting Guardiola to call for the issue to be rectified in the summer.



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“I said to the club I don’t want that [a bigger squad],” Guardiola said.

“I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer.

I don’t want that.”

Slot echoed Guardiola's sentiment after he was asked whether he felt that Liverpool needs to spend big during the summer transfer window.

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"I think another question is: 'Does a player that doesn't play that much want to stay at a club where he's not playing that much?'" Slot responded.

"I always say that to be on the bench for one season is already difficult - to not play a lot two seasons in a row is almost impossible, so it's not only what I want, it's also what the player wants.

"City will probably strengthen the squad again

So to find players that can strengthen us - that might not be that difficult - because there are certain players in the world where I think, 'if they would come, it would be nice'.

"But they're also playing at clubs where they don't want to leave