Pep Guardiola confirms desire to extend Manchester City contract

Pep Guardiola has confirmed - if the club are willing - he will happily extend his Manchester City contract.

In his unusually early press conference, the Catalan was asked about his own personal future and what his current plans were beyond this season.

Guardiola's contract expires at the end of the upcoming campaign and many supporters are fretting over the future of the club's most successful manager of all time.

During his time in England, the former-Barcelona boss has won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup, four Carabao Cups and two Community Shield's.

He also guided his side to a club-first Champions League final in 2021, where City were beaten by Chelsea in heartbreaking fashion.

In response to what it would take for him to remain at the Etihad Stadium for a little while longer, he said: "I don't need to change anything about my life, I'm happy. We spoke to the club.

"Middle of the season, end of the season we will talk again. I said many times I'd extend, if they want it I'll stay longer.

"Sometimes if you force it it's not good, you have to make the situations go through and relax.

"It will happen in a natural way, we will see what happens in the season, how we feel, the best for the club we'll take."

After winning four of the last five domestic titles, Guardiola is gearing his side to go-again and has made some shrewd additions in the transfer market to replenish the squad.

Erling Haaland's £51 million arrival from Borussia Dortmund is by far the stand-out name.

His goalscoring pedigree has propelled the Norway international to stardom and his transfer ends City's two-year long search for Sergio Agüero's successor.

The club did lose club captain Fernandinho over the summer, but have replaced him with exciting midfielder, Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United.

Julian Alvarez has linked-up with his new teammates after completing a January move, and Stefan Ortega has been brought in to provide adequate competition for Ederson.

The sales of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko means the squad has lost a lot of dynamism, but their replacements have already shown signs of real promise.

City kick-off their defence of the Premier League title this Sunday.

They travel to the London Stadium to face West Ham United, looking to get their campaign off to a winning start.

Pep Guardiola: "I said many times I'd extend, if they want it I'll stay longer." [via @_joebray]

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 5, 2022