John Stones on six-player Man City exit list after ruthless Pep Guardiola demand

Manchester City have placed defender John Stones on a list of six players who could be sold this summer after Pep Guardiola demanded to have a smaller squad to work with at the Etihad.

Guardiola is looking to overhaul his side after suffering a rare trophyless season that saw them suffer some dismal form and fall away from the Premier League title conversation at an early stage.

City have shown they mean business this season by making four signings already. Midfielder Tijjani Reijnders has arrived in a £46million deal from AC Milan, while playmaker Rayan Cherki joined from Lyon for around £34m.

The club also snapped up Wolves left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri in a £31m move and secured a back-up goalkeeper as Marcus Bettinelli agreed a one-year deal.

But Guardiola has already complained about having too many players before those arrivals and he will need to offload a handful of players to ensure he has a tighter playing group. Kyle Walker has already left for Burnley in a £5m deal.

READ MORE: Man City boss Pep Guardiola joins Liam Gallagher's son at Oasis gig for 'pic of the century'

READ MORE: Man City sign eye-watering £1BILLION deal to break Premier League record

The issue is so pressing that the Spaniard even threatened to quit if his request was not accommodated - having been forced to leave out a number of high-profile players from his matchday squads last season.

According to the Athletic, City are already in the process of deciding which players could be moved on and Stones is one of six players in danger of an exit.

The other stars include Nico O'Reilly, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Claudio Echeverri and Oscar Bobb.

The report adds, however, that is is "very unlikely" that Bobb will be allowed to leave after he missed the majority of last season due to a fractured leg.

Speaking in May, Guardiola told the media: "I said to the club I don't want that [a bigger squad]. I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don't want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay.

"It's impossible for my soul to [tell] my players in the tribune that they cannot play. Now it happened to add players immediately. Maybe for three or four months, we couldn't select 11 players, we didn't have defenders, it was so difficult. After, people come back but next season it cannot be like that.

"As a manager, I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six, stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club I don't want that."

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.