Pep Guardiola has agreed to a contract extension with Manchester City, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The 53-year-old is understood to have committed to a deal that will tie him to the club for a further 12 months, and it is believed that there will also be an option to extend until 2027.
Guardiola’s current terms had been due to expire at the end of this season; this new deal will take him to a decade in charge of the club he joined in 2016. Few expected at the time that the Spaniard would last longer at the Etihad Stadium that the combined length of his tenures at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Guardiola, however, has settled in Manchester and has enjoyed relentless success, winning six Premier League titles in addition to the 2022 Champions League.
For a time, however, it had seemed this summer might be an end point for Guardiola. Celebrating a fourth consecutive league triumph in May he intimated that he was “closer to leaving” than staying while the departure of director of football and long term colleague Txiki Begiristain sparked fresh speculation over the manager’s future.
Instead Guardiola’s appointment, which has not yet been confirmed by City, offers some stability at a turbulent moment for the English champions. Off the field they are facing at least 115 charges of breaking the Premier League’s financial rules, all of which they deny. Dealing with the fallout from that may or may not prove to be one of the great challenges in the career of one of Europe’s most successful coaches.
In the immediate term there is the matter of arresting the worst losing slump of his career. Guardiola had never lost four games in a row in all competitions prior to defeat at Brighton on November 9, his side face Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday looking to close a five point gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool.