Man City injury luck last season points to obvious transfer stance

As any Manchester City fan will be able to tell you, Pep Guardiola does not have big squads.

The idea that there are two XIs capable of beating any side in the league is a myth made up by people belonging to those other teams to make themselves feel better about losing. Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes spoke recently about how it can feel like there are 15 City players on the pitch, yet in reality they barely fill out a Champions League squad.

Last season as they won the Treble, Guardiola carried a grand total of 20 outfield players with him over the course of the season who played meaningful minutes. This included those who struggled for game time such as Sergio Gomez and Kalvin Phillips, as well as Joao Cancelo who was shipped off to Bayern in January.

City did not just survive but thrived in all but one of the competitions they entered, and the fact that not every player was vigorously used suggests there is some slack in the system. Not much, though.

Also read: Man City sell out Community Shield allocation despite fan boycott

The fact that City were able to avoid more injuries last season was down largely to the intelligent decisions made analysing the fitness of every player, but was also undoubtedly helped by luck. Even those responsible for delivering City's success accept the role that luck played and envisage that they could get as much right next season and end up with many more injuries.

Because of this, as much as outgoings can be filled internally by versatile players there is a point where there aren't enough bodies to go around. Given how small City's squad is at the best of times, they are more or less at this limit.

Guardiola currently has 24 outfield players who could be considered