Pep ‘too tired’ to think about new City contract

PEP Guardiola said he is too tired to even think about whether he wants to extend his City contract beyond 2023.

And he says he will need to ‘feel’ the club next season before coming to any conclusion.

The Blues boss became just the fourth manager in English football history to lead a team to four league titles in five seasons, following George

Ramsay (Aston Villa, 1890s), Bob Paisley (Liverpool, 1970s) and Sir Alex Ferguson (United 19902, 2000s and 2010s).

The fans are desperate for him to extend his stay at the Etihad Stadium after a run of unprecedented success, but he has refused to commit his future, saying he will make a decision at the end of next season - later than he has done on previous occasions.

Asked what he was feeling now, after another exceptional season was capped with a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Aston Villa, he said he needed time to get his head around things. He said: “I’m so exhausted right now, I need rest and I need to see the team next season.

“We have time, I would not betray the club, ever. But I have to feel it, the players and the club. One year is a long time, we think about what we have to do for the club.”

Guardiola admitted that the nature of the win, with City trailing 2-0 with 20 minutes left only to score three times and clinch it, made it one of the toughest title wins of his career.

“The year we won at Brighton was difficult - this was more excitement for the fact that how it was,” he said. “Brighton and today at home, we felt the pressure, this week the players trained incredibly but we smelt it, we knew Liverpool would beat Wolves.”