CITY COOL ON PEP TALK

‘We’ll let him decide if he wants to stay’

PEP GUARDIOLA will decide if this will be his last season at Manchester City.

Guardiola’s contract expires in June and the club will let him choose if it is time to end his glorious reign at the Etihad.

The board want him to stay and will talk to him about his future, but ultimately say it will be down to him.

The Blues are taking the same approach with record goalscorer Sergio Aguero (right), who is also out of contract in June, and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak feels this is the right policy.

“It’s a very relevant question, but it really is a similar answer,” he said. “We have such an understanding, me and Pep.

“The ecosystem we have between Txiki Begiristain, our director of football, CEO Ferran Soriano, the entire club, is that this conversation with Pep is a natural conversation.

“Pep and I have a very clear understanding about what is right for the club and what is not. We have a clear alignment in terms of where we see the future and what we want in terms of success for the club.

“I think again, it will be a comfortable conversation and it will work out in the best way for Pep, for me and for the club. I’m very comfortable about that.”

Guardiola (right), 49, who has won two Premier Leagues, one FA Cup and three League Cups in his four years at City, signed a new contract in 2018 and Khaldoon is relaxed about his future.

“Everything will work out naturally and in the right way,” he said. “We have the right people involved. We have the right trust in each other and what’s best will happen.”

City took the same line over the futures of stalwarts David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta, and Khaldoon says they are “comfortable” with this approach. Aguero, 32, has scored a club record 254 goals in his nine years at City and has always said he wants to end his career back home in Argentina with his first club Independiente. Khaldoon said: “To have a player like David essentially commit 10 years of his life to the club, to have a player like Sergio Aguero to do the same, this is what tells me we have it right.

“They are part of the DNA of the club now and the decision of them to continuing or stopping, it’s the comfort zone that they have to decide.

“It was the same way with Vincent. He left when he felt it was right for him to leave and the same thing with David. Sergio is going to be the same and we will work it out together and it will be very natural, whenever that is, this year or the year after.

“It will play out in a comfortable way whatever Sergio decides.”