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Man City manager Pep Guardiola admits he is conscious of the fact his squad are among the oldest in the Premier League and that he must start planning for City's long-term future.

Guardiola is still heavily reliant on key players well into their thirties; the need to lower the average age of the squad appears increasingly acute.

But while the Spaniard recognises he must look towards City's future, he is not willing to let some of the older players of City's past go just yet.

"Last season it was the oldest team in the Premier League and this season it’s one of the oldest," said Guardiola.

"Most of the players make the club exactly what they are in that moment, so a huge club in the Premier League, they helped to create the next step in Europe, and made people start to talk about Manchester City in different terms to how it was in the past.

"But you cannot compete all around the world just with young players, you cannot compete just with old players, we are going to try to make a mix because the young players need time, like Leroy, like Gabriel Jesus we are going to see how it works.

"And of course the old players, until now... in many many many cases they played absolutely amazing."

Guardiola has relied on veterans such as Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, David Silva and Bacary Sagna this season, all aged thirty or over.

But while he still appreciates the contributions they can make to the team, Guardiola appreciates the team must eventually change for the long-term future and there must be a balance struck between youth and experience.

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"At the end we are going to try to decide because the club is not for next season or for the next one, [it’s] for the next five years, 10 years. Of course you have to change the team, it’s normal," he said.

Sagna, Zabaleta, Toure, Gael Clichy, Willy Caballero and Jesus Navas are all out of contract this coming summer but Guardiola would not be pushed on whether they would be offered new deals, despite saying that they are all still competing at the top level.

The City boss said: "I have to see the performance of the team until the end of the season and afterwards we are going to decide.

"I’m not thinking about that because the level showed by Sagna, when he plays, or Gael or Kolarov or Yaya — to say the names that are older than the other ones, their performances are more than correct to follow playing here.

"When they don’t play good and they are not training good that is the moment. So that is not the case.

"They deserve to be playing maybe they extend their contract but me and the club are not going to decide right now. We are going to see how’ it’s going in the next months."

And he admitted he is not the only one who has a say in offering the players new contracts, even if he is involved in the decision-making process.

"I won’t be the only one but I have discussions on the player's [contracts]," said Guardiola. `

"The future, I am not the only one who decides because I want to feel the club is involved with all the decision because it’s better."