Pep Guardiola has signed a new two-year contract with Manchester City that will extend his tenure as the manager to 2027, and has said the champions’ current bad form stopped him leaving in the upcoming summer.
The 53-year-old’s decision to commit for two more seasons – he had been expected to sign up for just one – after the current campaign is a major boost for the club, particularly as it comes during a run of four consecutive defeats, the poorest sequence of form under his management.
“Since the beginning of the season I’ve been thinking a lot,” Guardiola said in an announcement video. “I want to be honest, I thought this [season] should be the last one. But the problems we had in the last month, I felt now was not the right time to leave.
“I didn’t want to let the club down. I felt I could not leave now, simple as that. Don’t ask me the reason why. Maybe the four defeats was the reason why I felt I cannot leave.”
Guardiola will have completed 11 years at City when his fresh terms end. He is already the longest-serving manager in the Premier League and the second-longest across all four divisions.
He added: “Honestly, I think myself, my staff and friends, I think we deserve to be here. I am sorry to say. I am not arrogant to say, but it’s the truth. I think we deserve after four defeats in a row to bounce back and try to turn the situation. In that moment, in the period, I had the feeling you have to take the right decisions for the future and I want to take it.
“Manchester City means so much to me. This is my ninth season here – we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club. That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.”
Guardiola thanked City’s proprietor, Sheikh Mansour, the chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the chief executive, Ferran Soriano, and Txiki Begiristain, the departing sporting director who is also a close friend.
He said: “Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – the owner, the chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and of course the fans – everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here. I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much. Hopefully now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Al-Mubarak said: “Like every City fan, I am delighted that Pep’s journey with Manchester City will continue; allowing his dedication, passion and innovative thinking to continue to shape the landscape of the game. His hunger for improvement and success remains insatiable and the direct beneficiaries of that will continue to be our players and coaching staff, the culture of our club, and the English game at large. This renewal will take Pep beyond a decade of coaching Manchester City and the opportunity to continue to rewrite the managerial record books.”
Guardiola’s contract does not contain a break clause should the club be relegated from the Premier League if found guilty of financial wrongdoing by an independent commission. The club are defending themselves against more than 100 charges brought by the Premier League. City deny all allegations. If the champions are found guilty then, depending on the severity of the verdict, one potential sanction is demotion from the top division.
Guardiola took over City in the summer of 2016 and though his opening season ended trophyless, he has claimed silverware in each of his other seven complete ones.
In 2017-18 Guardiola led City to the championship with a record 100 points. The following term he claimed an unprecedented domestic treble of the title, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
City were champions again in the 2020-21 campaign and Guardiola also guided the team to a first Champions League final, losing 1-0 to Chelsea. Two years later the European Cup was claimed, the 1-0 win over Inter completing English football’s second ever treble. Last season’s title was a record fourth in succession, while City have also enjoyed four League Cup victories under Guardiola.
“The treble was a dream come true and the Champions League, especially for this club,” Guardiola said, “and of course we make the four in a row, which no team has done before. It has been amazing. But you have a past, been lessons and mistakes that we have overcome to arrive in the moment where you are more stable and more consistent. We have to recover that because right now we don’t have it and that’s the target we have to do.”
The full list of his major honours for City is six Premier League titles, one Champions League, four Carabao Cups, two FA Cups, the Uefa Super Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup.
Across all competitions Guardiola has won 353 of his 490 City matches, for a 72% win percentage, his side City scoring 1,200 goals at an average of 2.45 per game. Only Les McDowall – who managed 587 City games between 1950 and 1963 – is ahead of Guardiola on the club’s all-time list.
Source: theguardian.com
