5 players Pep Guardiola would sell at Manchester City
By Vijay Vemu
4. Martín Demichelis
If there was a centerback that has to leave Manchester City, it has to be Martin Demichelis. The Argentina man has been a loyal player to Pellegrini has he has played with the manager at City and at Malaga a couple of years back.
Demichelis had some really good years with City as he was the starting centerback alongside Vincent Kompany when City won the title two years ago. But he also had some bad times with the Citizens. Poor decision-making and getting caught out-of-place are the two biggest knocks against Demichelis and they have costed City at times.
One of those times was against Barcelona in 2014 when Demichelis saw his countryman Lionel Messi sprint past him in the first leg in Manchester. Demichelis then brought down Messi near the penalty area and the referee deemed it to be a penalty. Then things turned ugly for City as the referee gave Demichelis a red card and sent him off in the leg. Messi converted the penalty and later Barcelona took advantage of the extra man as Dani Alves scored to cement a key 2-0 away win.
He also almost gave away a silly penalty in the Manchester derby when he was beaten by youngster Marcus Rashford and decided to hip check the striker in the box, causing Rashford to go down. But no penalty was given although it surely looked like it.
Demichelis could still be a quality defender off the bench for some teams but with Pellegrini leaving, Demichelis’s career in Manchester may be over soon as well.
Next: 3. Pablo Zabaleta