Guardiola casts doubt over Gundogan's role in squad shake-up

Pep Guardiola offered no guarantees over the future of veteran midfielder Ilkay Gundogan when stating that he only wants fit players in his squad next season, casting further doubt over the futures of defensive duo John Stones and Nathan Ake.

Gundogan made his 43rd appearance of the season in Saturday's 5-2 victory against Crystal Palace, which will be far more than he expected when he returned to the club last summer following a year at Barcelona.

It has also been enough to trigger a clause in his contract to commit to an extra year at Manchester City.

But amid interest from Turkey, where his parents come from, Guardiola says he cannot be sure whether Gundogan will remain at City next season.

"He definitely has one more year on his contract," Guardiola said. "What's going to happen, I don't know.

"The Gundo from Leicester City, the Gundo from Bournemouth and the Gundo from Crystal Palace is the Gundo I remember. When we won the Treble, he was so important.

"It is about his activity and defensive intelligence when he arrives. He has helped us massively but, as a team, we cannot help him individually because it's not about you, you, you."

John Stones has only featured 10 times since the end of October 2024 and hasn't featured at all since lasting just eight minutes in Manchester City's Champions League defeat to Real Madrid on 19 February due to a thigh injury.

Nathan Ake has made just 17 appearances this season and is currently out after fracturing his foot last month.

"Nathan, like John Stones, has been injured all season," Guardiola added. "The most important thing from my point of view, as I said to the club, is which players are reliable for the future.

"You cannot perform if you aren't reliable and you are injured. The players we have, they can either play every three days or they cannot.

"We need to build a squad for next season."

Stones' current contract runs out in June 2026, while Ake's runs until June 2027.