Uncertainty over Guardiola Man City deal with time starting to run out
Pep Guardiola is still to decide on his Manchester City future with the clock ticking down on his current contract.
The City boss is set to leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season, with the club still waiting to find out if he is willing to commit to another year in charge.
Guardiola recently said that there have been no talks over a contract extension , with his focus remaining on the first-team during this season’s hectic schedule.
Guardiola is in his fifth season at the Etihad, which is already his longest spell at a single club having spent four years at Barcelona and three at Bayern Munich.
He recently hinted that he could potentially stay longer when he rejected the possibility of a return to Camp Nou after Barca presidential candidate Victor Font suggested he would like to bring him back to Camp Nou.
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“I’m incredibly happy here, delighted to be in Manchester and hopefully I can do a good job this season to stay longer,” Guardiola said at the end of October.
But any new deal would only be a 12-month extension.
The 49-year-old is determined not to overstay his welcome, with the players needing fresh ideas to maintain their motivation.
City finished 18 points behind Premier League title-winners Liverpool last season, and have made a slow start to the current campaign, winning fewer than half of their league games to sit 10th in the table, with Guardiola enduring his worst-ever start to a new season.
City are desperate to keep the coach they see as the best in the world for as long as possible, and before the season started chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak insisted that the relationship between the club and the manager meant any talks would be convivial.
“Pep and I have a very clear understanding of what is right for the club and what is not. We have a clear alignment in terms of where we see the future and what we want in terms of success for the club,” he said.
“I think again, it will be a comfortable conversation and it will work out in the best way for Pep, for me and for the club.”
City have a shortlist of potential successors should Guardiola decide to end his stay at the club, with Goal having learned that RB Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsman and former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino are among the potential candidates.
But Guardiola remains their priority after becoming the most successful coach in the club’s history, winning two Premier League titles and four domestic cup competitions in his four years so far.
