Pep Guardiola still has ‘incredible energy’ for Manchester City despite possible summer exit

The Guardian Sport3h ago4 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

Pep Guardiola remains highly motivated as he pursues a seventh Premier League title with Manchester City, despite speculation about a potential summer exit. The club is preparing for his possible departure by considering Enzo Maresca as a replacement.

Key points

Guardiola remains motivated after nearly a decade at Manchester City
City is planning for Guardiola's potential summer exit
Enzo Maresca is a top candidate to replace Guardiola
City is competing for the Premier League title and FA Cup
Guardiola finds chasing a treble less stressful than last season

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Pep GuardiolaManchester CityEnzo Maresca

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Pep Guardiola has said he remains as motivated as ever after almost a decade managing Manchester City as he chases a seventh Premier League title. His comments come amid a backdrop of the club making contingency plans to replace the Spaniard if he decides to leave in the summer. Guardiola has a further year remaining on his contract but City have made Enzo Maresca a leading candidate to take over as head coach, should a change be required.

Guardiola is focused on his first visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday to face Everton, aiming to close the six-point gap on Arsenal. The Gunners have played twice since City’s last league match, defeating Newcastle and Fulham.

“I wouldn’t be 10 years, even with good titles, if I didn’t have an incredible environment,” Guardiola said. “Now I feel more, I don’t know … happy, not happy, but I don’t know … still have incredible energy, still I’m so good, coming here to work on my day off.”

He added: “I love when Gundo [Ilkay Gündogan] came back from Barcelona and said, ‘Man City is top, top’. You know, when that happens, we are in a good way. That’s why we are consistently in the Champions League for the last 12, 13, 14 years. That’s why we are always fighting for the titles, because they are consistent around the tactics, the systems, the players, the managers. It’s like a bubble that makes people feel good.”

Guardiola admitted he finds chasing a treble less stressful than last season when City were fighting to even qualify for the Champions League. City are battling Arsenal for the title and will face Chelsea in the FA Cup final later this month as they seek to end the campaign with a trio of trophies.

“The hours before the game, I feel it [pressure] but the process between games I am more calm. Last season was 24 hours thinking ‘what will happen at the club if we will not qualify for the Champions League?’ I felt it a lot,” Guardiola said. “This season we won the Carabao Cup, [reached the] FA Cup final again and still fighting against Arsenal, so what can I say? It is really good. I would have loved to go through in the Champions League but the level is higher and it will be good learnings for me for the next season.”