Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City to ask the Football League for permission to play Marc Guehi in the Carabao Cup final – even though his January signing is ineligible.
City progressed to meet Arsenal at Wembley on 22 March by beating Newcastle 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium, and 5-1 on aggregate.
But defender Guehi, a £20m buy from Crystal Palace, was not allowed to play as he was not signed in time for the first leg, which also rules him out of the final.
He said: “Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup [EFL] that Marc Guehi can play the final. I don’t understand why he cannot play the final. Hopefully we make a letter. 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. You hire a player and he can be disposed the next day. Hopefully we can convince the biggest teams. It is difficult to understand.”
Guardiola’s other January buy, Antoine Semenyo, played in the competition for Bournemouth this season but arrived before the meeting with Newcastle at St James’ Park, in which he played and scored.
And Guardiola is struggling to understand why Guehi, who joined from Crystal Palace on 19 January, is treated differently.
And he added: “Apparently Marc cannot play the second leg because he didn’t play the first. And Antoine arrived before the first so could play. And now it’s the final. Why should he not play? Why not? We pay his salary, he is our player. It’s like the Champions League, the last two games [of the league phase they] cannot play and we have another 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.”
Guardiola said he does not expect his appeal to succeed, adding: “No, but we will try.”
But he believes England international Guehi, who lifted the FA Cup as Palace captain last year, will have plenty more opportunities to win silverware in a City shirt.
“We will play a lot [of finals],” he explained. “He is so young. He came to a team that will play in the next years a lot of finals. No doubt about that.”
