Manchester City’s five-game losing streak has everyone at the club and in the media looking for answers.
City’s injury list has no doubt played a huge part in the recent slump, with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri’s season-ending knee issue the most significant blow, while the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias among those to miss significant game time so far this term.
Another – perhaps not unrelated – area of concern has been the age of City’s squad, with a host of Pep Guardiola’s key players, including De Brunye, Walker, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan all past their 30th birthdays.
When Guardiola put pen to paper to sign his contract extension until 2027 last week, the issue of a potential summer rebuild to replace some of these ageing stars was mooted, as Guardiola and incoming sporting director Hugo Viana will know they cannot afford to rely on some of the squad’s ageing stars for the long-term.
Guardiola opens up on squad age
City face Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday evening as they bid to snap their losing streak at five games and deliver a much-needed confidence booster ahead of Sunday’s huge trip to Anfield where they will face Premier League leaders Liverpool.
One question posed to the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich chief in his pre-match press conference was whether or not some members of his ageing squad can still perform at the highest level.
“Nope, it depends on the performance,” he said. “There are players that are more than 30 who are performing incredibly well and there are players that are 23 that did not perform good. It depends on the performance not the age.
“My analysis is we’re not getting results because we haven’t had many players. A few months ago they were the same age. They won the Premier League. I would not say this is much different to a few months ago.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 31 |
| 2 |  Man CityManchester City | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 23 |
| 3 |  ChelseaChelsea | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 22 |
| 4 |  ArsenalArsenal | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 22 |
| 5 |  BrightonBrighton | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 22 |
“It always depends on the performance. I said before I’m here but if I don’t perform I won’t be here.
“Tell me one team in the world that does not drop after being beyond exceptional for many, many years. I want to defend what they have done. I could never blame one player here. They know our reality, but there’s a lot of minimal factors that are the reason. If it was one reason I would take it, but it’s not as simple. Right now, the most important thing is not tactics, it is to win a game on desire and after everything that happened, it will be better.”
Manchester City’s squad will need work this summer
In all, 12 Manchester City players are aged 29 or older in Guardiola’s squad, with his starting XI against Spurs featuring five players over the age of 30.
| Player | Age | Contract expires |
| Scott Carson | 39 | 2025 |
| Kyle Walker | 34 | 2026 |
| Ilkay Gundogan | 34 | 2025 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 33 | 2025 |
| Stefan Ortega | 32 | 2026 |
| Ederson | 31 | 2026 |
| Mateo Kovacic | 30 | 2027 |
| John Stones | 30 | 2026 |
| Bernardo Silva | 30 | 2026 |
| Nathan Ake | 29 | 2027 |
| Manuel Akanji | 29 | 2027 |
| Jack Grealish | 29 | 2027 |
It is clear, therefore, that the club will have work to do in the transfer window next summer, with the current run of results and injuries suggesting that Guardiola and Viana’s partnership will have to get off to a fast start when the pair link up for the first time ahead of the summer 2025 transfer window.
