Manchester City's Chief Executive says they expect manager Pep Guardiola to honour his contract amid speculation the Catalan coach will walk away from the Etihad.
Speaking at the Dubai International Sports Conference, City Chief Executive Ferran Soriano was asked about Guardiola and whether the coach is likely to stay at the Premier League Champions.
“He’s said so many times that he has a contract that overs this year plus next year too,” Soriano said. “So there’s no discussion about this.
“Pep will stay and he’ll leave at the right time one day. And the club is strong enough to survive any change. But as Pep said many times, he’s not leaving.”
City have won seven domestic trophies under Guardiola, out of a possible eight. The champions lost to Wolves after leading 2-0 on Friday night.
Priorities
That defeat led to questions about prioritising other competitions over the Premier League, with Liverpool clear at the top.
Sorriano was on the same page as Guardiola here, dismissing the idea of playing any weakened sides and offered some context to the last couple of seasons and the level of performances achieved by City.
"I would say that what’s happening is normal," Sorriano explained.
"What’s not normal is what happened in the last two years where Manchester City got 198 points in two years.
“The Premier League is very competitive, any team can win against any team. Obviously we’re not happy with the amount of games that we lost, but that’s the nature of competition, the nature of football.
“We’re now in December; we shouldn’t be talking about where we’re going to end the season. We should be going game-by-game.
"Also, because you cannot switch your intensity from one competition to the other so quickly.
“If we want to win the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Champions League, we have to be very intense in all the competitions, including the Premier League, regardless of whether we have a chance to win or not".
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