Manchester City will not be able to call on Marc Guehi in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal despite fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo being available

Pep Guardiola doesn’t like it and many can’t understand it but Manchester City will not be able to call on Marc Guehi for their Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. Nearly two months after joining the club, the former Palace defender will have to sit out the match despite the fact fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo can play.

Semenyo’s involvement caused confusion and controversy when he lined up for Guardiola’s side in their semi-final against Newcastle United. Eddie Howe was not happy that Semenyo was able to play even though he had already featured in an earlier round for Bournemouth before his £62.5m winter transfer.

Not only did he play but the Ghana international was instrumental in City’s 2-0 win at St James’ Park in the first leg of their semi-final, helping the Blues back into their first League Cup final since 2021 when they beat Aston Villa to win the trophy for the fourth consecutive time. Guardiola will be able to call on Semenyo for Sunday’s game with Arsenal thanks to that tweak to the rules to allow players to feature in the same competition for two different teams.

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Guehi will not have that chance though – not because of his prior involvement with Crystal Palace but because he was not a City player before the first leg of their semi-final with Newcastle. The new rules of the competition as of this season mean that a new signing has to have joined before that date if they want to play in either the semi-final or the final.

That effectively makes Guehi the only cup-tied player in the competition this season, an unusual quirk that left Guardiola baffled after their place in the final was confirmed. “Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup (EFL) that Marc can play the final,” he said.

“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. It is difficult to understand.”