Pep Guardiola insists he will remain Manchester City manager even if the club are relegated over alleged breaches of financial rules.
Pep Guardiola has insisted he will remain Manchester City manager even if the club are relegated over alleged breaches of financial rules.
The 53-year-old ended months of speculation about his future by signing a new two-year contract extension at the Etihad Stadium, with his new deal taking his stay at the club to over a decade, having joined the Citizens in the summer of 2016.
Guardiola has committed his future to Man City even though the reigning Premier League champions have 115 charges of alleged financial breaches looming over them, with a verdict expected to be made public by next spring.
Man City deny any wrongdoing and Guardiola is convinced that the club are innocent, but sanctions in the event of a guilty verdict could range from heavy fines, points deductions or even expulsion from multiple competitions.
Indeed, a report from September claims that the Citizens could be at risk of being expelled from both the FA Cup and EFL Cup as well as the Premier League, while there is also no certainty they would be allowed to continue playing in the Champions League or FIFA Club World Cup if they are found guilty.
Guardiola: ‘I will be here if Man City are relegated’
Twelve months ago, Guardiola said that he would not resign as Man City manager if the club were to be punished with relegation to League One, and he repeated the sentiment in front of the media on Friday, referencing ‘the Conference’ rather than the third tier of English football.
“I said six months ago when all the clubs accused us of doing something wrong, what happens if I get relegated: I will be here. We will come back to the Premier League [if that happens]. I knew it then, and I feel it now,” Guardiola said at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
Man City head into their encounter with Spurs on the back of losing four successive games across all competitions for the first time under Guardiola, who has explained that this poor run was not the real reason behind his decision to sign a new deal.
“No chance of that,” said the Catalan. “They want me, for obvious reasons – for the results. All my decisions in my life have been on what I feel in the moment.
“When I’m not pretty convinced, I wait. I thought this was the moment to stay. That was the reason why, and in just two hours, we did it.”
Asked why he opted to put pen to paper on a new two-year contract rather than the previously reported one-year renewal, Guardiola said: “It’s a good question. Mainly, I don’t want next season in September, October, November [people saying]: ‘It’s the last year of Pep’, again, again, again. That was the main reason. I didn’t want to be in that position.”
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Guardiola puts pressure on himself to turn City’s form around
Guardiola has also insisted that he is not taking his position at the club for granted and claims he is less likely to see out his full two-year contract if his team’s form continue to decline over a prolonged period.
“I would like to stay two more years, but I know that if the results are not good it won’t be two years,” he added. “It’s like the players. We have legendary players here, but they have to perform. If you don’t perform, our owner, chairman, fans, will say: ‘What’s going on?’, and you have to change.
“I think we [Guardiola and his coaching staff] deserve to continue. I think we deserve to accept the contract. I deserve to extend the contract, but at the same time we have to do it again, and if not, the club has to find a solution.”
Guardiola is the most successful manager in Man City’s history having won a total of 18 trophies, including six Premier League titles in the last seven seasons as well as the club’s first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023.
Man City currently sit five points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, but they can move to within two points of the Reds with a win over 10th-placed Spurs before Arne Slot‘s side face basement club Southampton on Sunday.
