By Sam Gilliland
Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry insists that the club’s star players are fighting for their futures after chief executive Ferran Soriano and football director Txiki Begiristain were appointed.
The Premier League champions progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a crushing 5-0 win against Championship side Barnsley on Saturday, with Carlos Tevez netting a hat-trick and assisting another two.
But England international Barry believes there could be a major clear-out following another Champions League failure this term and with the club looking likely to miss out on the Premier League title.
“Obviously they are the sort of conversations the lads have now and again,” Barry told reporters.
“We’ve got the rest of this season and then one more year and there have been changes upstairs.”
Soriano and Begiristain look set to oversee a number of high-profile player departures, with the likes of Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko linked with moves away from the Etihad Stadium in recent weeks.
And Barry, whose contract expires at the end of next season, accepts that positive changes may have to be made to keep the squad competitive.
He added: “Everyone is pretty relaxed because [Soriano and Begiristain] will take time to have a look at things and the way they are going to go in the future.
“The players are pretty comfortable with that, too, but it’s just important that we keep performing on the pitch. I want to finish my career still challenging for trophies and this is the perfect club at which to do that.
“I’m very settled here but at the same time I’ve got a lot of respect for the people who have come in. They’re going to have a good long look at the way they want to go and the players they want to go with, so as individuals we need to work hard when we get the chance.”
