EFL

“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,” he added.

City’s other January signing, winger Antoine Semenyo, arrived at the club from Bournemouth four days prior to their trip to the north east for the first leg against Newcastle, in which he scored.

“Antoine arrived before the first [game] so could play. And now it’s the final. Why should he [Guehi] not play? Why not? We pay his salary, he is our player,” Guardiola added.

“I said to the club, they have to ask, definitely. I don’t understand the reason why he cannot play in the final in March, when I have been here for a long time.

“The rules to buy a player depends on Fifa, Uefa, the Premier League who say, OK the transfer window is open, when you buy a player you have to play, no? It’s logic. Of course we are going to try to ask [for] him to play. Pure logic.

Asked what he thought the answer will be from the EFL, City’s Spanish boss, added: “No. But we will try.”

City have already benefited from one rule change this season that allowed players to play for two teams in the same competition, instead of being cup tied.

That allowed Semenyo and Max Alleyne to feature in the semi-final matches, despite appearing for Bournemouth and Watford respectively in previous rounds.

The wait is over.

After nearly six years and four failed semi-finals, Arsenal‘s 4-2 aggregate victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final has put them back into a major final.

It will be their first under Mikel Arteta since he guided them to FA Cup victory in 2020 – and just their second in his time at the club.

It was tight, it was tense and it was pretty dull at times but, as Kai Havertz rolled in an injury-time goal to confirm their place at Wembley, the euphoria from fans and players alike at Emirates left you in no doubt about the significance.

In a match that saw both sides only manage two shots on target each, the Gunners rarely looked troubled as they showed all the qualities that have made them so hard to beat.

The result means Arsenal will compete in a ninth EFL Cup final when they take on either Manchester City or Newcastle on Sunday, 22 March in the tournament’s showpiece match.

Should they face City, it will be a repeat of the 2018 final, won by the Manchester club, when Arteta was part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff.

However, aside from it being an opportunity for Arsenal to gain a measure of revenge for that loss and winning their first League Cup for 33 years, it would also be a step towards changing a few perceptions.

Arsenal manager Arteta said: “There was a special atmosphere inside our stadium. It makes such a difference. We’ve been waiting a few years to get into this position and we’re certainly going to enjoy it [the final].

“It’s the best vitamins that we can put in our bodies because we’re playing every three days. But the fact that you worked so hard to achieve those moments and to have these moments together is just magical.

“You can see the joy, the smile, the energy and everything that works at the club.”

Midfielder Declan Rice, added: “We deserve it. The last three or four years we’ve been at the top of the Premier League, competing and got really close but haven’t been good enough.

“That’s why this season we have that extra desire and fire in our bellies to go one step further in every competition. There’s a long way to go but to be in a cup final with this club is amazing.”

For the last few years, Arteta’s Arsenal reign has been a story of near-misses, both in cup competitions and in the Premier League.

Now, just one game away from ending their trophy drought, are the Premier League leaders about to silence accusations of being the ‘nearly men’ for good?

Ex-Arsenal defender Matt Upson told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It has been a few years in the making and there has been a steady build-up to this point for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta has been laying the foundations, building the ethos, and togetherness of the team.”

Because the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules are about trying to make sure clubs are not losing unsustainable amounts of money.

Despite going on a summer spending spree, paying about £30m for players and having one of the highest net spends around, Wrexham are well within the financial parameters because of the commercial revenue already being brought in thanks to deals with giants such as United Airlines and HP.

In League Two, they were already bringing in more than 20 of the 24 Championship clubs.

“Under the PSR rules, you’re allowed to lose £39m over three years,” said Maguire. “Looking at their two most recent sets of accounts, Wrexham lost around about £23m – but they’ve had substantial increases in broadcast revenue, from about £1.2m in TV money in League Two to about £12m this season.”

That is before taking into account a significant jump in sponsorship and commercial income, with chief executive Michael Williamson estimating they are already on a par with some top-flight clubs.

“We have a global brand, a Premier League brand in the Championship,” Williamson told Ben Foster’s Fozcast podcast in August 2025.

“What we don’t have is the broadcast revenue of Premier League clubs or the parachute payments.

“From a commercial standpoint, if you compared us to Championship clubs, I’m sure we’d be among the top and – on commercial revenues only – we would probably surpass a handful of Premier League clubs, around four or five I would guess.”