For Manchester City fans, this was the news they had been praying for. For City’s Premier League rivals, who have seen six of the last seven titles head to the Etihad Stadium, it was a decision they could be forgiven for privately lamenting.
Pep Guardiola has extended his stay at City for another two years, until the summer of 2027, by which time the man who has already won 18 trophies at the club would have been in charge of Manchester’s blue half for more than a decade.
For City’s hierarchy, it removes arguably their biggest headache and provides crucial continuity at a time when they are set to face a series of huge challenges on and off the pitch.
Impetus City must return to form
City face Tottenham at the Etihad on Saturday after four successive defeats, the first time under Guardiola’s reign. Trailing league leaders Liverpool by five points, but with less than a third of the season played and four points ahead of Chelsea in third, they still have plenty to fight for. But their manager knows that performances and results must improve, and quickly, if his team is serious about winning a record fifth consecutive league title.
City haven’t scored more than one goal in each of their last five matches and Spurs have been something of a bogey team for Guardiola. The international break came at a good time with the champions struggling with an injury crisis, but they have yet to prove they can do without their midfield metronome Rodri, who is out for the season in due to a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament.
Guardiola has particular concerns in defense with Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake all injured. Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish are available again but will need to show they can stay fit and return to form, while Phil Foden is yet to reach the heights of last season and Ilkay Gundogan has struggled since his return to the Barcelona club this summer.
Guardiola’s decision to extend his contract in November 2020 and again two years later had a galvanizing effect on the team and City will be hoping the same thing happens the third time around.
Is another reconstruction planned?
Guardiola’s challenge is twofold. City’s squad has nine players in their 30s with three more set to reach that milestone next year. Guardiola must once again motivate this collection of serial winners and hope that they still share his hunger and drive for more success. But even if they tackled this challenge over the next few months, next summer would seem like the logical time for a refresh.
The difference this time is that the manager will not ask his trusted friend and ally Txiki Begiristain to oversee the rebuild. City’s long-serving director of football will leave at the end of the season, with Sporting’s Hugo Viana expected to take over. City will be relieved not to lose Begiristain and Guardiola at the same time, mindful of how rivals Manchester United have yet to recover from the double whammy of losing Sir Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill in 2013, but the challenges Viana faces are considerable. .
Begiristain admitted in City’s latest documentary charting last season’s title success that the summer of 2023, following their historic Treble campaign, had been “a bit horrible for me”, with some players feeling they should “obtain more or new contracts and seize opportunities.” and those who didn’t play in the final “don’t care and are trying to get out of the club”.
Viana is unlikely to have life much easier, although Guardiola’s retention will be a major lure for recruits and could also bolster efforts to persuade star striker Erling Haaland to sign a new contract. City are adamant that De Bruyne will not leave in January, but the Belgian midfielder, 34 in June, has started just 25 of the club’s last 77 matches since limping off during the final victory of the Champions League against Inter Milan and may have to leave. Gundogan is out of contract this summer when Kyle Walker, Stones, Bernardo Silva and Ederson are all set to enter the final 12 months of their contracts. City have replaced key props very successfully in the past, but this could be an obnoxious first summer for Viana.
What about the 115 charges?
Guardiola’s new contract does not contain a termination clause should City be relegated from the Premier League in the event they are found guilty of financial wrongdoing by an independent commission. A verdict in the historic legal case dubbed ‘the trial of the century’ is expected in the early months of next year, but Guardiola did not feel the need to wait for its outcome before deciding on his future.
He has always urged City critics not to rush to judgment before all the facts are in and said 12 months ago he would stay at the club even if they were relegated to League One. City, who deny any wrongdoing, was charged in February 2023 by the Premier League with more than 115 alleged breaches of its regulations and, more recently, has been embroiled in a separate legal battle with the league over transactions between associated parties .
Guardiola has long maintained that he believes other Premier League clubs want to see City punished and has used this in the past to create a sort of siege mentality among his players. Maybe he will do it again. This summer, some City staff seemed convinced that this would be Guardiola’s final season, that he would struggle to muster the energy to go beyond a ninth campaign in charge. Perhaps the major challenges ahead have stoked new fires within him. Either way, City’s rivals will have to get used to the sight of him for a while yet.