City will go into the summer looking to rebuild an ageing team, with several senior players candidates to follow Kevin De Bruyne out of the door after the Belgian played his final City home game in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
After a season when injuries have hit City hard and the pressure of the fixture schedule only continues to grow, getting the right balance of numbers looks a difficult one but Guardiola - who has always preferred using a smaller group - said keeping things tight remained a priority for him.
"I said to the club I don't want that (a bigger squad)," the Spaniard declared.
"I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don't want that. I will quit.
"As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six, stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club I don't want that."
Despite the injury problems suffered this season - most notably the long-term absence of Rodri, who made his first appearance since September as a second-half substitute on Tuesday night - Guardiola's assertion means City will have to trim numbers before bringing in any new faces in the next transfer window.
"If I have injuries, unlucky, we have some players for the academy and we do it," he said.
City - who jumped three places to third - needed to defeat the Cherries to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in their own hands, and a draw at Fulham on Sunday should now be enough to make sure.
Omar Marmoush opened the scoring with an outstanding strike and although De Bruyne - the 33-year-old making his 142nd and final appearance at Etihad Stadium - missed an open goal, Bernardo Silva doubled the lead before the break.
After City's Mateo Kovacic and Bournemouth's Lewis Cook saw red in quick succession, Nico Gonzalez got a late third for City before Daniel Jebbison's added-time consolation goal for the visitors, who saw their hopes of clinching a European place come to an end.
There was no FA Cup Final hangover for winners Crystal Palace.
Just days after beating City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium to secure their first major trophy, the Eagles kept the party going in front of home fans at Selhurst Park.
Eddie Nketiah scored twice in a 4-2 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers, who went ahead through Emmanuel Agbadou.
But two goals from Nketiah in the space of five minutes in the first half put the south Londoners in front.
Chelsea loanee Ben Chilwell's deflected free kick made it 3-1 and Jorgen Strand Larsen's header offered Wolves hope in the 62nd minute.
Eberechi Eze — who scored the winning goal in the final — was on target again late on to set Palace up nicely for their final match of the season at champions Liverpool on Sunday.
With AP.
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