Pep Guardiola has said he intends to stay at Manchester City even if they do not win the title this season to claim a third consecutive Premier League crown.
Guardiola, contracted at the club until summer 2021, said on Friday: “I want to stay, I don’t have any reasons to move. I am incredibly satisfied to work with this club, with these players, and if the people think I am going to resign for these results and being nine points behind [the leaders Liverpool], the people do not know me.
“I like to have this challenge, I love to be in this position. If the club wants [me] next season I want to be here 100%. I want to live in this city because I know lovely people here and I want to work and live with them and I want to be here.
“If they [the club’s hierarchy] decide the results are getting worse then they are going to take a decision, that’s normal. It’s not because I am friends with Txiki [Begiristain, the sporting director] that I am going to stay for the rest of my life. I am here because I [keep] winning.”
Guardiola, whose team lost 3-1 to Liverpool in their last match, added: “Why should people think I’m not happy? Because we lost at Anfield or I’ve lost three games this season? That’s an odd reason to say I’m not happy or satisfied. The real situation is 198 points in two seasons, that is exceptional. The moment I will leave is when I feel my team don’t follow [me] to play at Anfield in the way we played.”
However the manager did admit the deficit means City have no room for more slip-ups. “We don’t have a joker in our pocket,” he said.
