Guardiola set to extend stay at City for another two years

PEP GUARDIOLA is close to agreeing a two-year contract extension at Manchester City. The 51-year-old has seven months left to run on his current deal and there is a confidence that he is set to extend his stay at the Etihad Stadium until 2025, which would take him to nine years at the club.

The City boss, who attended the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend, is happy in his role. And the club believe he can continue delivering success as he hunts a fifth Premier League title and an elusive Champions League crown. Talk surrounding Guardiola’s future has not been as feverish as two years ago, and much of that is down to Erling Haaland’s stunning start to life in England dominating the headlines.

But City will not want questions over his situation lingering later into the season and the break for the World Cup had always been earmarked as a chance to discuss plans with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, with whom Guardiola enjoys a strong relationship. The champions will be back in Abu Dhabi early next month for a warm-weather training camp. City are expected to back Guardiola in the transfer market next summer, with England and Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham among those they are monitoring.