Pep Guardiola denies Manchester City contract claims
Pep Guardiola has dismissed reports suggesting that he’s got a clause in his Manchester City contract allowing him to leave the club at the end of this season.
The Catalan tactician moved to the Etihad Stadium in 2016 and has brought untold success to the club so far, winning two Premier League titles, two League Cups and last season’s FA Cup as part of a domestic treble.
Could Guardiola leave City? Five things to know…
- Guardiola has won five major trophies since joining City in 2016.
- The Catalan signed a contract extension last year until 2021.
- The Daily Mail claim that contract has a clause allowing him to leave at the end of this season.
- But Guardiola denied this during Friday’s press conference.
- The former midfielder revealed his future at the club was discussed “a few weeks ago”.
This season has been more of a struggle, with the Citizens already slipping 14 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, and the Daily Mail recently reported that the contract extension signed by Guardiola last year included a clause allowing him to leave the club at the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
But, speaking to reporters during his Friday press conference, Guardiola put those rumours to bed and insisted he’s already discussed his future at Man City with the powers that be at the club.
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“No, it’s not true. I spoke a few weeks ago about my intentions with the club,” he replied when asked about the supposed clause.
“We will look in the summer” – Guardiola rules out January signings
City lost former captain Vincent Kompany over the summer as the Belgian returned to boyhood club Anderlecht in a player-manager role and failed to sign a replacement centre-back.
This left Guardiola with Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi has his natural options to choose from and although that seemed like a strong trio on paper, an injury to the former soon put pressure on City’s backline.
The defending champions have struggled at the back so far this season, with many fans and pundits urging Guardiola to dip into the January transfer market to bolster his options — Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake is the latest name to be linked with the club.
But Guardiola has maintained all along that he’s happy with the players at his disposal and wouldn’t be looking for signings next month — a point he reiterated on Friday.
“The players we started the season with we are going to finish with,” he said. “We will look in the summer.”
City travel to Arsenal on Sunday.