Guardiola demands League Cup rules changed for Man City ahead of Arsenal final

Pep Guardiola has called for Manchester City centre-back Marc Guehi to be allowed to play in the League Cup final following his side’s qualification thanks to a 3-1 win over Newcastle on Wednesday.

Victory meant that City moved into the showpiece event thanks to a 5-1 aggregate success, but despite the win, Guardiola was not happy.

He revealed that he intends to file a complaint that will allow Guehi to feature in the final, in which City will face Arsenal at Wembley on 22 March.

Guardiola hits out at League Cup rules

“Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc Guehi can play the final. I don’t understand why he cannot play the final,” Guardiola complained.

“You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it.

“Antoine arrived before the first [game] so could play. And now it’s the final. Why should he Guehi not play? Why not? We pay his salary; he is our player.

“I said to the club, they have to ask, definitely. I don’t understand the reason why he cannot play in the final in March, when I have been here for a long time.

“The rules to buy a player depends on FIFA, UEFA, the Premier League who say, OK the transfer window is open, when you buy a player you have to play, no? It’s logic. Of course we are going to try to ask for him to play. Pure logic.”

Why can’t Marc Guehi play for Man City in the League Cup?

Guehi is ineligible for Manchester City because he was signed after the date of the semi-final first leg – the cut-off point at which newly registered players are allowed to feature if they have previously played for a club in the same competition.

Semenyo was signed from Bournemouth four days before City beat Newcastle in the first leg, but Guehi did not arrive until 19 January, meaning that he could not play.

The rule reads that he would have had to have joined them “prior to the closure of the Winter transfer window, or the first leg of the semi-final (whichever is sooner)” to have been able to play.

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