Pep Guardiola Would NOT Replace Any Man City Player With Lionel Messi Or Cristiano Ronaldo

Pep Guardiola has made a bold claim that he would not replace any of his Manchester City players with Barcelona captain Lionel Messi or Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

City have hit their stride this season and shown little sign of easing up momentum after setting an English top-flight record of winning their last 16 matches across all competitions.

And Guardiola's men are currently unbeaten in their last 23 matches and are eying up silverware in several competitions.

City are top of the Premier League and have already confirmed their place in the League Cup final, along with reaching the last 16 of the Champions League and quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Speaking after City's 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday, Guardiola said: "We don't have players who can win the game by himself.

"We don't have a Messi, a Cristiano, [Kylian] Mbappe or Neymar. We have to do it as a team."

Messi, 33, has been linked with both City and Paris Saint-Germain amid growing uncertainty surrounding his future at Barcelona.

However, Guardiola has hinted that he would welcome the addition of a player who can score "every single" match and "run like these players can run."

The City boss explained: "I will be honest. I'd like to have a player to score, every single game, four goals and run like these players can run. I would love it.

"But I will not change any player we have right now, this season. All of them have shown up in the bad moments.

"In the good moments, everyone finds it easy to play but, in the big teams, the big players show it in the bad moments.

"We've had bad moments this season. We had a moment we were 12th in the table, we were five points away from Tottenham.

"They were top of the league when we lost there. Now we are 17 points in front of them. That means how consistent we have been, how we have turned over the situation. That means a lot."

City will resume their Premier League campaign on Wednesday as they travel to Goodison Park for their clash with Everton.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Football, Pep Guardiola, Barcelona, Serie A, Lionel Messi, Juve, Premier League, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, La Liga, Barca

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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