Revealed: Man City's Plan B if Guardiola leaves

FT Desk

• 11 Nov 2022 18:26 GMT
• 3 min read

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City contract is up at the end of the season and the club expect him to extend, but they have a Plan B should the Catalan tactician decide to walk away.

Guardiola is into the seventh season of what has been a successful six-year stay at City so far, having arrived from Bayern Munich in 2016.

The 51-year-old has won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons, and was a Champions League runner-up in 2021 when City were edged 1-0 by Chelsea in the all-English final in Portugal.

READ: Pep Guardiola in new Man City contract hint

But Guardiola has already been at City three years longer than he was at Bayern, and two more than he spent as Barcelona head coach between 2008 and 2012. He also took a one-year sabbatical between his managerial spells in Spain and Germany, and there is caution that he might do something similar again.

To that end, City have lined up Mikel Arteta in the event that Guardiola decides to call it a day according to Spanish outlet Todo Fichajes. The Arsenal manager was previously Guardiola's assistant at the Etihad between 2016 and 2019, and has led the Gunners to the top of the Premier League ahead of City this season.

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Two players - Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko - followed Arteta to Arsenal this summer for a combined £77 million (€88m), and the former has plundered five goals and six assists to help Arsenal pull two points clear of the champions after 13 games played.

READ: Guardiola's third favour to Arteta to solve Arsenal's midfield problem

Guardiola: 'Arsenal have been exceptional'

"We could be top of the league!" Guardiola said ahead of City's final game before the World Cup, against Brentford on Saturday. "But Arsenal have been exceptional. I think yesterday one guy on my staff told me that we had more points in the Premier League than I think in the last four seasons!

"So that means we have been really good, but another team has been better. We have to accept it. This is the level, the bar, the standards."

If Guardiola signs a three-year contract extension as expected, his new deal at the Etihad would expire when Arteta's at the Emirates does, which could be convenient for City if Guardiola stays on… and Arsenal keep performing.