Pep Guardiola has revealed that he told his Manchester City bosses last summer that he did not want to strengthen his squad.
And the City head coach admits that decision has proven costly in retrospect. The champion is in sixth place for Tuesday evening's visit to Brentford, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.
City have been plagued by injuries, particularly to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, leaving Guardiola with few options in midfield.
Defensively they have also had to constantly reshuffle and, speaking at a press conference to preview the trip to west London, Guardiola said: “In the summer the club thought about it and I said 'no, I don't want to make any signings.'
“I trusted these guys a lot and thought I could do it again. But after the injuries – wow – maybe we should have done it.”
City are expected to spend more than £100 million this month to strengthen Guardiola's squad.
But the current group is packed with experienced campaigners aged over 30 and several years on with minimal time to recover, with the club making the cut in most knockout competitions and international football demands.
Captain Kyle Walker, who has asked to leave the club in the January transfer window, and Ilkay Gundogan, who returned to the club after a season at Barcelona, are among those who have found the intensity a struggle with no time is to rest.
And Guardiola added: “We knew at the start of the season that we will have many players over 30. Sooner or later we knew we had to do it. Step by step we had to change.”
“But five or six months ago they won the Premier League, four in a row, reached the FA Cup final and the quarter-final of the Champions League. I didn't expect the amount of injuries we had.”
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