Manchester City have to name their 21-man Champions League squad today. With Wilfried Bony coming in, who should they axe?
As City breached Financial Fair Play rules, their squad for Europe’s elite club competition this season has been reduced from 25.
That gives Manuel Pellegrini a selection headache as he must choose who to remove from his squad to accommodate £28m signing Bony ahead of their round of 16 tie with Barcelona by 11pm on Wednesday.
To complicate the matter, Gael Clichy, Frank Lampard, Joe Hart and James Milner count as homegrown players, while Dedryck Boyata is considered ‘club-trained’ and those five players must be selected.
Stevan Jovetic – who started just one of City’s Champions League group games and was withdrawn at half-time against CSKA Moscow – is among the favourites to be dropped and former City defender Steve Howey reckons the Montenegrin will be the one to make way.
“For me it’s Jovetic,” he told Sky Sports News HQ. “Therefore Bony goes in and you’ve still got Dzeko, Aguero – an unbelievable line-up of three great strikers. Jovetic hasn’t hit the ground running and is struggling a little bit.
“As for the other positions, he needs competition for places. So I’d take Jovetic out.”
Man City’s 17 players – one of which is set to be cut to make way for Bony
Willy Caballero, Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Martin Demichelis, Eliaquim Mangala, Aleksandar Kolarov, Fernando, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas, Samir Nasri, David Silva, Stevan Jovetic, Edin Dzeko, Wilfried Bony, Sergio Aguero.
City’s club-trained/homegrown players who must be included
Dedryck Boyata, Gael Clichy, Joe Hart, James Milner, Frank Lampard
