Pep Guardiola signs new Man City contract

ManchesterWorld

The Manchester City manager spoke to club media after signing an extension that runs to 2027.

Transcript

00:00Pep, thank you for giving us your time and sharing with City fans the news that

00:05they will be thrilled to hear that you're staying with City even longer.

00:09Firstly, congratulations on the contract. Thank you. It will take you to beyond a

00:14decade at Manchester City. It's a long time, so why have you decided to stay?

00:20I felt I could not leave now. Simple as that. Don't tell me the reason why. Maybe

00:26the defeat was the reason why I felt that now I cannot leave. And yeah, I felt

00:33the club still, you know, want me or have the fact that they work together and

00:42that's why we signed. You did four years at Barcelona and also three years at

00:46Bayern Munich, but you're gonna be here a lot longer than that. Why is that?

00:51What's so special about here? First, because we won a lot. Otherwise, you know,

00:56Not even here in a place like I feel love. Here's a business and you have to

01:00win and have a contract. But I know if we don't win, maybe I will not continue.

01:05So I know exactly that doesn't mean it's a paper that even we don't need it.

01:09It's just the feeling that the moment that we feel is done, the club will know

01:15it. And that moment didn't feel it. The club, Chiqui first, and of course, our

01:21chairman Jaldun and Farhan didn't feel it. And that's why I extend to be here

01:29to try to continue to do it well. You said you've won a lot. I mean,

01:34it's incredible. 18 trophies since you joined in 2016. Can you just explain to

01:40us how you managed the team to achieve these levels of consistency and

01:44brilliance on the pitch? I don't know. I would like to have the secret because I

01:48will have it. I will continue to do it. We will try. I think the hierarchy is so

01:52stable. First of all, the club is so, so stable in many departments and

01:56especially, everybody knows the quality of the players we had in this decade.

02:01Decade and nine, 10 years, 11 years is going to happen. I don't forget my first

02:08season here with the players I had in that moment. So that helped me a lot to

02:13understand the club, the team, the Premier League and many, many things. And

02:17all of them were involved. So I don't have the feeling that there is a

02:21why for a specific reason. There are many. That there is a why we had a lot of success.

02:26Going back to when you first came to the club, could you ever imagine nine years

02:32on that you would have this incredible amount of success here?

02:34No, every time I signed a contract, I signed a contract for the first decade.

02:37OK, the last two. And after we signed the contract, I said, OK, the last two.

02:41And still we are here. So at the end,

02:47so honestly, I think right now, myself and my staff and my friends, I think we

02:52deserve to be here. So I'm sorry to say so. I'm not arrogant to say it, but it's

02:58the truth. So I think we deserve the chance to, after four defeats in a row,

03:04you know, to bounce back and try to turn the situation. And in that moment, in the

03:09period, so I had the feeling that you had to take the right decisions for the

03:13future. And I want to take it.

03:16And what gives you that hunger and desire to keep to keep going?

03:19And I enjoy to be here. So I like my job. I like

03:24to be a match in this club. It's no more second than that. I said many times from

03:29many, many years ago, the moment I will not have that feeling, even under contract,

03:35I will call my chairman, I will call my CEO and say, the best for the club right now,

03:40I have to leave. But I don't have that feeling right now. And that's why

03:46I extend a little bit longer.

03:47So since you signed that last contract, of course, we've had two incredible seasons,

03:52winning the treble first off and then becoming the first ever England men's team to win four

03:56Premier League titles in a row. What are your feelings about those two incredible seasons?

04:02A consequence for the previous season as well. So I cannot forget the 100 points, for example,

04:07like we were an incredible team. I cannot forget Jurgen Klopp and the incredible Liverpool that

04:12bring us to our limits, to achieve our limits. Otherwise, we could not have beaten.

04:19And there are a lot, a lot of things. I don't, I would say I don't express these nine years

04:27just for the last two. Of course, the treble was a dream come true, especially for the

04:32Champions League, for this club. And of course, make the four in a row. So like any team has done

04:38it. So I've been amazing. But to achieve that, you have a past, you have a lesson, you have mistakes,

04:45you have moments that you overcome to arrive in the moment that you are more stable,

04:49more consistent. And you have to recover that. Right now, we don't have it. And it's the target

04:54that we have to try to, you know, to do. And can you tell us a little bit about some of the

05:00support you have off the pitch from Chiqui and from Khaldun and from Ferran? Yeah, when I'm

05:06talking about, but not just for staff, acrobat staff, of course. But I said many times to win

05:12nine years is because first you win, but you win sometimes. Why? For the quality players, because

05:18we are in the same path. We are aligned since Khaldun, when we talk to each other, since Ferran

05:25and Chiqui, of course, and all of my backroom staff. I have friends around me and I know that

05:32in the bad moments, we are together. And listen, now we can celebrate these nine incredible years,

05:40but in these nine years, we had the tough, tough periods and bad moments. So football is always

05:46win all the time. It's not always success all the time. So we are at a moment that we will not win

05:51titles. This season we won one already, but we are not going to win maybe this season the other one,

05:56and the other one is not going to happen. But this is not the problem. The problem is

06:00what's next, what decisions you have to take to still be in there and become still a good team.

06:07Can you tell us a little bit about your discussions with Khaldun about

06:11signing this new contract and what your thoughts were about it?

06:14Well, it's not for one day, for the other one. Since I would say in the beginning of the season,

06:19I was thinking a lot. There was a moment that I... So I want to be honest. So I thought that

06:26it should be the last one because every time is... But at the same time, the moment the situation

06:32comes and the problems you have in the last month, the other one, I felt now is not the time to leave.

06:38I wouldn't let the club down, I would say. And of course, through another measure,

06:45and I said many times, with another measure, the structure is there and will work. But I felt the

06:51confidence from the chairman, from Chiqui, from Ferran, from everyone, and I said, okay. I had

06:56the feeling that I have to do it. And also, could you talk a little bit about the fans as well?

07:00They'll be delighted about this news. What do they mean to you? The fans will have to push us,

07:05and if the fans want, we'll win again. So some of them will be delighted, I hope so, like I am,

07:10but maybe some of them believe it would be maybe enough. In certain moments, I think the same

07:17will be enough. But I know all of them, whatever happens. So I think they know us quite well that

07:24we'll never give up. And we'll try. So even the last games that we didn't play, except

07:30one game, the other ones, we were there. And still have to adjust some things, a few things,

07:37but hopefully it can happen. And you've been here eight and a half years now.

07:42You're almost half Mancunian, maybe three quarters Mancunian. What does this city mean to you?

07:47I'm a Catalan, I'm sorry. But I'm a Catalan. So my country where I was born means a lot, but

07:55obviously. So I was so happy in Munich as well. So when I've been, people treat me unbelievably,

08:01but there's obvious reasons. If one person is in nine years doing a job and living in this city,

08:06it's because you feel good. Otherwise, you will not be here. The moment you finish a period,

08:17another chapter in your life must be open. But in that moment, of course,

08:22so it will be impossible to forget until the last day of my life. Impossible to forget my

08:30time here. So otherwise, as I said, I will not be nine years. In that case, hopefully ten.

08:36Are you able to put into words exactly what this club means to you? Why it's so special to you?

08:40No, everything. So everything. So it's the place perfect to do my job. So it's a nice city

08:49in terms of for the young, for the teenagers, but for old guys like me. So I'm home, home,

08:54work, work, home, home, work. So some restaurants sometimes, but with this schedule, it's not

08:58possible. So my life is boring, I would say. So and that's why what I'm doing is just,

09:04yeah, do my job as best as possible. And just finally, looking at the rest of the season

09:09and maybe beyond when maybe you've gone in the future, how do you see the future of this club?

09:15As much as you have good players, it will be a success. So and I think the club is

09:23targeting this, you know, to continue with the ones. Sometimes you have to remove players,

09:29bring in new ones. And as much as you have a good mentality and continue these standards,

09:33the club will be in the position that it deserves to be. That not just with me in the last 10,

09:3715 years, I would say everyone knows that the main reason of the club's success is Sheikh Mansour

09:46when he took over the club and after the direction from, you know, Khaldun until,

09:52of course, Ferran and Ferran Soriano and all the people. And after that, all the people,

09:57since Roberto Marcini as a manager, Pellegrini after me, and all the players have been here,

10:02all the people in the backroom and stuff, make a contribution to put this club where they live.

10:08So I know I'm a spokesman in the club because every three days talk before and after the game

10:12and the people believe I'm the reason. I am part of the reason, but I'm not the only one reason.

10:16So all the managers and they are in the clubs, they know that they need incredible support,

10:23you know, for the other people to have success. And that's why it's a team. That's why it's a

10:28club. It's not individual support. And I'm very proud to be part of that. I'm very proud. I never

10:33felt I am only the reason why and we had success and I like to be part of the success sharing this

10:40with many, many, many other people. Pep, thank you so much for your time.

10:44Once again, congratulations on the contract. Thank you so much.

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