BRISTOL -- Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has said his side can succeed without Alexis Sanchez after the Chile winger joined rivals Manchester United.
Sanchez had been linked with City before completing a move to Old Trafford on Monday.
But De Bruyne, who helped City reach the Carabao Cup final with a 5-3 aggregate victory over Bristol City on Tuesday, said there were other good players who would relish the chance of playing at the Etihad Stadium.
"The board is busy with that. If it goes, it goes. If it doesn't go, it doesn't matter, we will still do what we need to do, with or without him," the Belgium international told reporters.
"He chose United. OK, there are a lot of good players. If they want to come, they want to come, and otherwise we will do it with our team."
The Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, who beat Chelsea 2-1 in the other semifinal, will present the first opportunity for Pep Guardiola to win a trophy at City, having ended his debut campaign without silverware for the first time in his career.
De Bruyne won the competition in 2016 under Manuel Pellegrini but missed the final with ankle and knee ligament injuries suffered in the semifinal.
"Hopefully we can finish it. It's going to obviously be a big game," he added. "Obviously the season is very hard, you play a lot of games, but if you win already that trophy you already have something.
"We are in a good position in the Premier League, so these finals can only help us for the rest of the season.
"I did my part [in 2016], and it happens, you get injured, and the team finished it off, so I'm very happy about that. You never know what's going to happen.
"Everybody wants to play these games, but we try to win it."
On Monday, De Bruyne signed a contract extension, but the 26-year-old said: "In the end it doesn't change anything -- I'm just staying for longer now.
"I'm very happy with the extension obviously, and I think the team also."
City are back in cup action on Sunday when they face Cardiff City in the FA Cup as they continue their quest for an unprecedented quadruple.
But De Bruyne stressed: "We are not thinking about that. Obviously we want to try it, because we want to win every game.
"But to win all four, it's a hard task. It's not like we're thinking ahead like we want to win all four.
"The game that's coming, you want to win it. So now, Sunday is the FA Cup against Cardiff and we want to win that game, and then it goes on.
"It's the positive thinking from game to game, that's better than to think in two months. You don't know what's going to happen."