After long speculation between the parties, Pep Guardiola has signed an extension of his contract with Manchester City that would keep him at the club for two more years, starting 2021. Ultimately this would mean various things for all parties concerned- the club, himself and the best player he played with. Let’s see where it gets.
The Club
Only good news for them. Since the takeover in 2008, the club’s hierarchy has spoken a lot about building and leaving a legacy, as well as establishing themselves as a global force under Pep. In his time, he has already won everything but the Champion’s League- and that’s what still eludes him at Etihad.
Their progress has broken slightly following the emergence of Liverpool as a considerable force, plus constant injury issues to key players in Sergio Agüero, Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte have also been detrimental in their progress.
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Himself
Guardiola’s timeline in England has looked like this till now: a slow start when getting into the playing style and implementing ideas, full steam ahead and winning everything, small dip as rebuild commences. Another striking thing, Pep has stayed only 4 and 3 years respectively at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, this is the longest in any club.
These next three years will show us a lot about how is Pep actually as a coach and whether or not he has the potential to do the unthinkable again. Few managers before him have done so and they have had their name in history books.
There are small signs of things beginning to go old at City and defensively, things must improve should City want to compete against the giants of Europe and stand a chance. Let’s see if Guardiola can set up his team again.
La Pulga Atomica
At the beginning of this season, there was a lot of focus on Messi and whether he would stay or leave his boyhood club. With bids landing from different clubs, Barcelona put up a fee which is unthinkable for Messi himself, 600m! This fee, of course, shooed the suitors away and Messi stayed around for another season.
Now with Messi sure of Pep staying with the English Giants for the upcoming two seasons, Messi might just take his chances of moving to Manchester. With no contractual obligations after this season, we might see Messi in the light blue jersey.
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