INVINCIBLES
PEP Guardiola insists his City team will not emulate Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles.
But the Catalan has made it clear his pursuit for perfection is far from over.
Ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Arsenal, Guardiola admitted he would ‘shake’ up his squad once more – despite their rampant start to the season.
Alexis Sanchez will be a part of that, either in January or next summer, assuming his head is not turned by another of Europe’s giants in the meantime. As for Guardiola himself, he gave the clearest indication that a contract with just one more season to run after this campaign will be extended.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager is understood to have informed City’s hierarchy he will require longer than his initial three-year deal to realise his ambitions.
And with such a youthful squad at his disposal, the potential of what he could go on to achieve is tantalising.
“I was happy last season so you can imagine how happy I am now,” said Guardiola.
“I’ve been comfortable here since the beginning. I have another season, I’ll be there. We’ll have time (to negotiate) after that.
“The players have to be focused for the next games and after that is not important – especially in November.”
It is no surprise Guardiola is determined to avoid distractions.
The Premier League leaders have been irresistible in their unbeaten start to the season.
A run of 13 wins in their past 14 games in all competitions has led to obvious comparisons to Wenger’s last title-winning side – his 2004 champions who went through an entire league campaign without defeat.
Guardiola, however, is quick to dismiss such talk.
“Arsene’s record belongs to him, we are not going to break it,” he said.
“He has to be calm. It was an exceptional team, something fantastic.
“We don’t want to break this record, but we want to play good and beat them on Sunday. “People say we are unbeatable – someone will beat us. “How we react is how you become a good team.” And with Antonio Conte the latest to declare City champions-inwaiting, Guardiola is eager to remind his players nothing is won yet. He added: “So we are five points ahead – how many games left? How many points.? “84 points to play for and five in front. “If you say we will play until next May the way we play like we have in last two months, I’d say ‘Wow, we have a good chance.’ “But who is going to show me we will not get injuries? Even for the best team it’s hard to maintain. Many circumstances, the opponents will make it tricky and we have to solve it. “May is the best month to talk about it. But with 84 points to play for...”