Man city forgotten star gets pep guardiola reprieve after brutal axe

ONE MANCHESTER CITY HOMEGROWN STAR LOOKS TO BE HEADING FOR THE EXIT DOOR BUT ANOTHER COULD YET STAR AGAIN FOR PEP GUARDIOLA 09:15, 03 Jun 2025 Pep Guardiola's squad selection in the FA

Cup Final stood out as one of his most striking of the season. It may have only been one game, but it was a game that was bigger than pretty much every other one given it was the closest

Manchester City came to silverware. Leaving out homegrown talent in James McAtee and Rico Lewis simply because, he said, he hadn't liked leaving new signings Claudio Echeverri, Vitor

Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov excluded in recent matches felt pretty brutal given what had gone before and what it suggested for the future. If these players couldn't make the squad for

big games, how would they survive the squad rebuild in the summer? It felt harsh on McAtee in what has been a difficult season for him. Guardiola admitted that he should have used him more

earlier in the campaign, but then left him out of the last three squads completely. City have now given the green light to his departure in summer, sanctioning him to go to the Under-21

European Championship rather than head with them to the Club World Cup. They will hope that he doesn't make them look like selling him was a mistake. Lewis felt on another level though.

This is his third season with the Blues having broken through in spectacular fashion to help City win the Treble, and earlier in the season he was the most important player in the side.

Even after his form and confidence tailed off, only six players were used more by Guardiola over the course of the campaign. His starts included the FA Cup semi-final, where he backed up

Guardiola's bold selection call by scoring inside two minutes against Nottingham Forest. Article continues below His reward for that was having to watch the final from the stands as

well as Kevin De Bruyne's farewell at the Etihad three days later. While he was restored to the bench for the last game at Fulham, it was still some fall from grace for a player who had

started the season as an instrumental part of the team for club and country. It didn't help that there were cross words over Lewis and McAtee after England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley

asked if he could have them at the European Championship. Guardiola made a snippy reply about who would be paying their wages over the summer, although you can hardly blame Carsley for

asking if he has seen the pair not even trusted enough to make matchday squads for City. If City backing down on McAtee signals his departure, holding their ground on Lewis suggests they are

not ready to lose him from the squad. Kyle Walker is departing and there are doubts over the future of Matheus Nunes, so pushing Lewis towards the exit would really leave City light at

right-back even before taking into account the 20-year-old's versatility. Moving for Rayan Ait-Nouri at left-back does not mean that City won't sign anybody else on the right, but

it has to boost Lewis's chances this summer. The homegrown star has the right profile to stay in the squad, and the decision to take him to the Club World Cup offers the backing that

wasn't there for the FA Cup Final that City believe he has the quality to stay in the squad as well. _--_ _Here at The Manchester Evening News, we're dedicated to bringing you the

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