Pep Guardiola signs new two-year contract at Man City to end uncertainty over his future – and hails the club’s ‘support in bad moments’ as attention turns to January move for Lionel Messi
- Pep Guardiola’s current deal at Manchester City only had seven months left on it
- The Catalan boss moved to end the speculation during the international break
- The news raises the prospect of this being Guardiola’s final job in club football
- It also suggests that City could reignite their interest in Barcelona’s Lionel Messi
Pep Guardiola has committed his future to Manchester City by signing a two-year contract extension, warning he still has ‘unfinished business’.
MailOnline revealed on Thursday lunchtime that Guardiola had agreed fresh terms, putting an end to the threat of his situation overshadowing City’s season.
Guardiola, who earns more than £15million a year, went into the international break adamant about reaching a resolution and came to the conclusion that he would remain at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola has committed his long-term future to Manchester City by agreeing a new deal
The Spaniard has put pen to paper on a new two-year deal, keeping him at City until 2022
It ends constant speculation over his next move that threatened to overshadow City’s season
HOW SPORTSMAIL BROKE THE STORY
Sportsmail broke the news of Pep Guardiola’s new contract on Thursday morning, with Jack Gaughan’s exclusive story leading the way.
Guardiola’s future had been shrouded in mystery for months before today’s report, published at 11.55am, revealed that an agreement had been reached.
City later confirmed Guardiola had signed a new two-year contract, confirming the story.
City were desperate for the 49-year-old to continue and had given him the time needed to make a decision with his family. That the answer has come in November is a significant fillip for planning purposes.
Talks held this week with three key boardroom figures —Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano — ended with Guardiola signing a deal until 2023.
Finishing that full term would represent seven years in charge — considerably longer than had been expected when he arrived from Bayern Munich in 2016.
Although his wife and youngest child have moved back to Spain, Guardiola is happy in Manchester with his son, Marius.
Guardiola has won six major trophies at the helm — including consecutive league titles in 2018 and 2019 — and wants to wrest back the top spot from Liverpool.
‘We have the feeling that there is unfinished business,’ said Guardiola, who spurned advances from Paris Saint-Germain in recent weeks. ‘This club won in the recent past — together we won, and we won a lot, and we won again.
‘The target is to continue to maintain this stature of the club for as long as possible.’ The main challenge is to go beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a hurdle at which City have fallen in the past three seasons.
The 3-1 defeat by unfancied Lyon in August hurt the players and staff, who are determined to prove their detractors wrong.
The 49-year-old sat down with the club’s in-house TV channel to chat after the announcement
The Manchester City boss said he feels he has ‘unfinished business’ at the Etihad Stadium
Guardiola moved to resolve the situation over the international break and decided to stay put
‘The chairman (Al Mubarak) convinced me that still we have to move forward, to try to do it, to continue what we have done in these incredible last four years together,’ Guardiola added. ‘As a manager I have everything I need.’
Guardiola’s decision came quickly, with sources telling Sportsmail as recently as last week that the club were in the dark over his thoughts.
It also suggests that City will reignite their interest in Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as soon as January.
If he stays until 2022, it would represent his longest stint as boss of a single club in his career
He has won six major trophies at City, including back-to-back league titles in 2018 and 2019
The forward was unhappy that disagreements surrounding the wording of his contract blocked a switch to the North West during the summer and wants to leave the Nou Camp.
Messi will have only six months remaining on his contract in the new year and is able to negotiate a free summer transfer from that point. City may, however, see January as an opportunity to thrash out a fee for the 33-year-old as Barca are keen to re-sign 19-year-old defender Eric Garcia from them.
Guardiola would also like to sign a left back, although that seems dependant on the likely departure of Aleks Zinchenko.
The news about Guardiola suggests City could reignite their interest in Lionel Messi
Messi will have only six months left in January and will be free to negotiate with foreign clubs
City may eye January to thrash out a fee given Barcelona are keen to take Eric Garcia to Spain