Pep Guardiola 'set to axe EIGHT players' after Champions League elimination including once unthinkable name

Pep Guardiola is reportedly considering ruthlessly selling EIGHT Manchester City players following their dismal exit from the Champions League.

Having lost the home leg of their Champions League round of 16 play off match against reigning champions Real Madrid 3-2, City needed to pull off an upset victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

However, it wasn't to be as a hat trick from star striker Kylian Mbappe made the task insurmountable for Guardiola's side, despite a late goal from winter signing Nico Gonzalez.

In the wake of the match, a new report has claimed that the City boss has grown tired of eight key players and is prepared to sell them this summer in a brutal clear out of his squad.

Responding to their dreadful run of form towards the end of last year, City kept busy during the winter transfer window, signing Omar Marmoush, Nico González, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

But it now appears that they will be focusing on outgoings in the summer, as The Daily Star have reported that they will consider selling Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, Ederson and Jack Grealish.

While it will come as no surprise that players like Gundogan and Walker, who joined Serie A giants AC Milan on loan in January, are on the list, some fans will be shocked to see that club legend De Bruyne is also on the chopping block.

The Belgian midfielder has been central to City's success sine joining from German side Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015, making over 400 appearances and contributing to 278 goals in this time.

Kevin De Bruyne has made just 26 appearances for Manchester City this season. (Image: Getty)

However, the 33-year-old has struggled with fitness in recent seasons, and with his £400,000 per week contract set to expire in the summer, it appears Guardiola will allow him to leave the club as a free agent at the end of the season.

Like De Bruyne, teammates Silva, Stones, Kovacic, Gundogan, Ederson and Walker all appear to have put their best days behind them and City could be eager to get their wages off the book so that they can afford to bring new blood to the club in the near future.

Meanwhile Grealish, who is still only 29 years old, remains in his prime but has failed to impress since his British record transfer from Aston Villa.