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Guardiola agrees new one-year deal with Man City
Following City’s 2-1 FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United in May, Guardiola took time over the summer to consider his future, with the Guardian reporting then he was minded to take any decision sometime this winter.
The manager’s last two contract extensions were agreed in November when travelling to Abu Dhabi, the home nation of the club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour. Before City’s 2-1 loss at Brighton on 9 November, their last game before the international break, Guardiola was asked if he had any plans to go there again during the international break.
He said: “No. I said many times, I won’t talk about it [a new contract]. When it happens, it will happen. We’re in touch regularly.”
City have lost their past four matches, the first time Guardiola has overseen such a run in his 15-year managerial career. They are second in the league with 23 points from the opening 11 matches, five points behind the leaders, Liverpool.
The club is also defending itself at an independent commission against the more than 100 charges of alleged financial wrongdoing brought against it by the Premier League. City deny all of the charges and Guardiola’s decision indicates a renewed energy and desire to bring more success to the club he took over in summer of 2016.
It also suggests that Guardiola has not been influenced by the decision of City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, to depart in the summer. Begiristain, a former teammate of Guardiola at Barcelona and a close friend, will be replaced in the close season by Hugo Viana who currently occupies the same role at Sporting Lisbon.
Guardiola is already the most successful manager in City’s history. In eight years at the club, the 53-year-old has guided City to six Premier League titles, including the last four in succession, which is a record. He also claimed City’s first Champions League in 2023, plus two FA Cups and four League Cups.
On Saturday Guardiola aims to arrest the four-game losing sequence when Tottenham visit the Etihad Stadium for the 5.30pm kick-off.
After the 4-1 defeat at Sporting in the Champions League, the third City loss in the run, Guardiola said: “It will be a tough season — we knew that from the start. But this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players and try it.”