Ruben Dias says Manchester City squad overhaul has brought renewed hunger
Ruben Dias believes Manchester City’s £430m squad rebuild has injected crucial hunger into Pep Guardiola’s side ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.
The reigning English champions embarked on a massive transition period across the 2025 and 2026 transfer windows.
Guardiola orchestrated the departure of long-serving stalwarts such as Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, and Ederson following a difficult run of nine defeats in 12 games last season.
In their place, 13 new faces arrived at the Etihad Stadium to replace the core of the historic treble-winning generation.
A renewed winning mentality
The Portuguese defender feels the dramatic influx of new talent was exactly what the club required to move forward.
“Every player that came in, all of them kind of have this winning mentality. Independent of having won or not so much in the past, they come with this hunger.”
City’s reconstructed squad now has the opportunity to claim their first piece of collective silverware at Wembley this weekend.
The defensive leader revealed that the squad had open discussions about the necessary changes following their challenging domestic campaign.
“We talked about it and it was something we did and I feel like it’s taken a very much better route now and it was needed.”
New faces stepping up
Guardiola has already confirmed that English goalkeeper James Trafford will start the final in place of high-profile acquisition Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Italian international faced initial scrutiny from onlookers regarding his distribution skills upon joining the club.
However, the experienced centre-back was quick to praise his new teammate’s ability with the ball at his feet.
“I think he surprised everybody. I was very quick to run into the fact that he’s not bad with his feet.”
While central defender Marc Guehi is ineligible for the showpiece event, a wealth of recent recruits are available for selection.
The likes of Antoine Semenyo, Tijjani Reijnders, and Omar Marmoush could all feature as the blue half of Manchester looks to secure early season glory.
