Marc Guehi was unavailable for Manchester City’s EFL Cup semi-final against Newcastle United and is also set to miss the final under current competition rules.
Pep Guardiola believes the EFL Cup regulations should be amended to allow Guehi to feature in next month’s final against Arsenal at Wembley. The City manager has questioned why the January signing remains ineligible despite being a registered City player.
City secured their place in the final with a 3–1 victory over Newcastle in Wednesday’s second leg, completing a comfortable 5–1 aggregate win after their 2–0 success at St James’ Park earlier in the month.
Omar Marmoush scored twice, with Tijjani Reijnders also finding the net, as City effectively wrapped up the tie inside the opening 32 minutes, although Guardiola’s side were more open and conceded several chances after the break.
Guehi, signed in January, was not eligible to play as he was not registered before the start of the semi-final tie. In contrast, fellow January arrival Antoine Semenyo was registered in time and remains available for the competition.
As things stand, Guehi will also be ruled out of the final on March 22, a situation Guardiola intends to challenge.
“Hopefully in March we can arrive with all the players fit,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “And hopefully you can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc Guehi should be able to play in the final.
“It’s difficult to understand that the club makes a big investment in a player who belongs to us, and I don’t understand why he cannot play. Hopefully we will write a letter and they can understand. It’s a rule I don’t understand, and hopefully they can change it.”
City’s progression means they have now reached the EFL Cup final for the 10th time, drawing level with Chelsea and Manchester United, with only Liverpool (15) appearing more often.
The club won the competition four consecutive times between 2017-18 and 2020-21, though this marks their first appearance beyond the quarter-finals since that run ended.
Reflecting on City’s return to the final, Guardiola added: “We’ve been there many times over the years. Hopefully we arrive in March in good condition, fully fit, to compete against an exceptional, top-class team.
“In these two games we had a good result. We didn’t start at 0–0, we started at 2–0, but anything can happen once the game begins. We started with the right pace and momentum, and everything was really good.”
With City having significantly refreshed their squad since lifting the Premier League title in 2023-24, Guardiola believes reaching the final can help instil a winning mentality in his newer players.
“It will be good. You have to live this experience,” he said. “The first title we won here was the Carabao Cup.
“When you win something, it helps you to win more. It’s a pleasure to play against Arsenal, the best team right now in Europe, and maybe the world.”
