Guardiola unsure on long-term Man City future

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  • Post published:May 20, 2024

Pep Guardiola has hinted that next season could be his last at Manchester City after guiding the club to an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title and sixth in the last seven years.

With a 3-1 victory over West Ham, City won its sixth premier league trophy in seven years under the leadership of the Catalan, who since 2016 has elevated the team to incredible new heights.

Only Alex Ferguson, who won 13 Premier League titles during his lengthy reign at Manchester United, has more victories than he has.

The Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup were all won by City in the same season in 2019—a first for the club. The previous year, they repeated Manchester United’s 1999 feat by winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League—a title they had never held before.

Overtaking the feats of the legendary Liverpool and Manchester United sides from earlier eras, City is currently the first team in the history of the English Premier League to win four titles in a row.

And when they play United at Wembley in the FA Cup final the following week, they’ll try to become the first English team to win consecutive domestic doubles.

Guardiola, 53, a former manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, is under contract at the Etihad until the conclusion of the 2019–20 season, although it is unknown what will happen to him after that.

“The reality is I’m closer to leaving than to staying,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “It’s eight years, will be nine.

“Right now my feeling is I want to stay next season. We talked with the club, we have time to talk next season because I have to see the players as well (to see) if they follow me, they follow us, for many reasons. I will stay and during the season we will talk when calm.”

Asked at his post-match press conference whether he felt as though he had “completed English football” and what he felt was left to achieve, Guardiola shrugged his shoulders and said: “I had that feeling last season.

“When we won in Istanbul (in the Champions League final) I said, ‘It’s over, what am I doing here? It’s over, there’s nothing left’.

“But I have a contract, I’m here and still enjoying. Some of the moments I’m a bit tired but some of the moments I love, and after I said ‘OK, we are here’.

“We start winning games, playing good, different players, new players and I start to think about ‘No one has done four in a row, why don’t we try?’ And now I feel ‘It’s done, so what next?’ I don’t know right now.”

He added: “Next season, right now, I’m not able to know exactly what will be the motivation to do it because it’s difficult sometimes to find it when everything is done.”

Guardiola declared that he was currently relishing the radiance of yet another Premier League victory.

“When I moved here if someone had said I would win six leagues in seven seasons I would say you’re insane — no way,” he said.

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