‘Pep is the best manager in the world and we want him to stay’: Manchester City hopeful Guardiola will sign a new deal with contract expiring next summer… but club chief admits club will make succession plans if boss chooses to leave
- Manchester City are hoping to secure Pep Guardiola’s long-term future
- The City boss’s contract is set to expire at the end of the 2020-21 campaign
- Guardiola has spent five seasons at City – more than Barcelona and Bayern
- City chief Omar Berrada is confident they can extend Guardiola’s contract
Manchester City chiefs are working to secure Pep Guardiola’s long term future at the club, though will be willing to look elsewhere if the Spaniard seeks to leave the Etihad next summer.
The 49-year-old has entered the final year of his contract in the north west, with this season his fifth campaign with the club – longer than he spent at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
With under 12 months remaining of his current deal, there are concerns that Guardiola could leave the club at the end of the season and seek pastures new.
Manchester City are hopeful of securing Pep Guardiola’s long-term future at the club
The City boss has less than 12 months left of his contract, expiring at the end of the season
Manchester City’s chief operating officer, Omar Berrada, though, is eager to tie Guardiola down to extended terms.
‘It speaks as to how far the club has come that Pep has done his longest managerial tenure with us,’ Berrada said via The Sun.
‘That means that he is happy being here. He is comfortable here. Pep is the best manager in the world and we want him to stay.
‘We will have a conversation with him at the right time and hope he does extend his stay because his contribution has been enormous and will be long-lasting.
City chief Omar Berrada said he is confident the club can secure extended terms for Guardiola
Berrada noted that Guardiola is happy at the club, with the boss entering his fifth season
‘Those conversations will happen at the right time but our position is very clear: we do want him to stay.’
Berrada added that the club would make plans in the event that Guardiola sought to leave the Etihad at the end of his contract.
‘If there was a sense that we would need to start planning for succession, then we will do so,’ he added. ‘But our priority is doing what we can and speaking to him to make sure he feels comfortable and that all the circumstances are right for him to continue.
Berrada did, though, add that the club would make succession plans if Guardiola opts to leave
‘There’s an element of being prepared [to make a decision] but at the same time he has demonstrated enough and in terms of his performances as a manager and the team he has shown enough commitment, and we have also shown commitment to him.
‘There’s a lot of trust in that relationship – with the chairman [Khaldoon al-Mubarak], with Txiki Begiristain [director of football], with Ferran Soriano [chief executive], Pep and his coaching staff – and when you have that level of trust in the relationship the conversations are much easier.
‘I think we’ll be fine throughout this process. Those conversations will happen at the right time.’
