Man City boss cries rules weren’t changed to help him ahead of Arsenal cup final

Man City boss cries rules weren’t changed to help him ahead of Arsenal cup final Guardiola “doesn’t understand” Guehi ruling despite clear Carabao Cup rule that City failed to meet Manchester Evening News, 21 Mar 2026 Pep Guardiola has managed to turn one of the simplest rules in English football into a personal grievance, and from an Arsenal perspective that tells you plenty about where Manchester City’s head is before Wembley. The Manchester Evening News piece lays it out clearly. City cannot use Marc Guehi in the Carabao Cup final because he was not a City player before the first leg of their semi final against Newcastle.

That is the key condition in the updated regulations. As of this season, a player has to have joined before that first leg if they want to play in either the semi-final or the final. Nearly two months after signing from Crystal Palace, Guehi still has to sit out Arsenal v City because he missed that cut off.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images At the same time, fellow January arrival Antoine Semenyo is perfectly eligible. He had already played earlier in the competition for Bournemouth, but because his move to City went through before the first leg at St James’ Park, he could feature in both the semi and now the final. Semenyo did exactly that, starting at Newcastle and being “instrumental” in City’s 2-0 win in the first leg.

Eddie Howe was unhappy about that, but it was entirely within the rules and Guardiola had no complaints then. The distinction is simple. Semenyo was registered in time, Guehi was not.