Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has agreed a two-year contract extension which will take him beyond a decade of service with the Premier League champions.
The Catalan coach's current deal had been set to expire at the end of this season. The new agreement will run until the end of the 2026/27 season and would take Guardiola’s tenure at the Etihad Stadium to 11 years.
Guardiola, 53, has delivered 18 major trophies in his time at the club, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League. He took over from Manuel Pellegrini back in 2016.
Guardiola said: “Manchester City means so much to me. This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – the owner, the chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and of course the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak praised Guardiola’s leadership and spoke of his delight at the manager’s decision to stay.
He said: “Like every City fan, I am delighted that Pep’s journey with Manchester City will continue; allowing his dedication, passion and innovative thinking to continue to shape the landscape of the game.
“His hunger for improvement and success remains insatiable and the direct beneficiaries of that will continue to be our players and coaching staff, the culture of our club, and the English game at large.
“This renewal will take Pep beyond a decade of coaching Manchester City and the opportunity to continue to re-write the managerial record books.”
Speculation over Guardiola’s future, rife now for many months, had increased considerably after the club confirmed that director of football Txiki Begiristain would be leaving at the end of the season.
Begiristain, a long-time colleague of Guardiola going back to his Barcelona days, is to be replaced by Sporting Lisbon’s former executive Hugo Viana, an ex-Newcastle United player.
Ending the uncertainty over Guardiola’s position has prevented further disruption next summer at a time when the club are due to compete in the expanded Fifa Club World Cup.
The news has also come at a critical juncture in City’s season. Disrupted by injuries, the champions’ form has wavered of late, with the team having lost their last four matches in all competitions, the worst run of Guardiola’s career.
It has also been a difficult campaign off the field with the club facing 115 charges for alleged breaking of Premier League rules following an investigation into their financial affairs.
Guardiola is next scheduled to speak to the media on Friday ahead of their match against Tottenham on Saturday night. The news will surely give the club a huge lift ahead of that vital clash at the Etihad Stadium.
City's dip in form and uncharacteristically leaky defending has coincided with a season-ending injury to key defensive midfielder Rodri, with his absence felt keenly in a League Cup defeat at Spurs, a Champions League humbling at the hands of Ruben Amorim and Sporting Lisbon, and in successive league defeats to Bournemouth and Brighton.
However, former City defender Nedum Onuoha believes there is nobody better to solve the problem than the innovative Guardiola.
"It absolutely has to be the collective [to replace Rodri]," Onuoha told The National on the club's recent trophy tour to Abu Dhabi. "I think even though you know Rodri has been one of the most significant players not just for Man City but in world football across the last couple of years, the fact is it shouldn't be the end of the season if he goes down.
"So, you don't necessarily replace someone in a like-for-like manner. Kovacic has done well. He's done well alongside, say, Rico Lewis in there, sometimes Gundogan in there.
"Sometimes I think with Guardiola, he's one of my favourite managers of all time, and it's because of his adaptability. It is the fact that he can change the way a team plays based on the strength of the team that he has.
"You know, look at the years when they played with a false nine, look at the years when they had inverted full-backs, the years where a centre-back would step into midfield and sort of dictate the tempo in that.
"So, I think it's not ideal to lose someone that significant, but the bodies that they have and the manager they have, they'll be driven to find a way to continue to be successful, which is always a nice thing to have when that's on your side."
