CITY? YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET!

Etihad chief vows Blues will be even hungrier under ‘relentless’ Pep

MANCHESTER CITY will be even hungrier next season under “relentless” boss Pep Guardiola, according to chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

City rewrote the Premier League record books this season as they became the first English side to rack up 100 points, while also claiming the title by a biggestever margin, 19 points.

But any notion City will allow their standards to drop next season was dismissed by Al Mubarak, who said Guardiola will not allow that to happen and is determined to make the Blues even more formidable.

City have failed to retain the Premier League title on two previous occasions, but Al Mubarak said they have learned from those experiences and have what it takes to keep hold of the trophy next season.

“My expectation, and the manager’s expectation, is that this team will continue to improve,” said Al Mubarak. “We have a manager in Pep who is relentless. There’s not going to be any contentment or relaxation here, that I can assure you.

“I have no doubt that this summer we’re going to come back and be hungry and be more aggressive and we’ll continue to grow and improve.

“We have real experiences, real learnings from how we managed our seasons following the last two times we won the league.

“We’ve worked very hard over the last couple of years to build the squad, not just for this season but for many seasons to come. It is

a young squad. Many of our most talented players are under the age of 26.

“In terms of improving the squad, also we’ve had a lot of learnings over the past.

“Today we have a superb, high-quality squad.

“You don’t get to 100 points without a full highquality squad, which is what we have.”

Having spent heavily last summer to strengthen in key areas, Guardiola has already declared there are likely to be two new additions at most this summer, with Napoli midfielder Jorginho and Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez among the targets.

Al Mubarak said any new arrivals will have to be topclass players to enable them to have any chance of finding a way into Guardiola’s remarkable side.

“Any additions have to improve the squad,” said Al Mubarak.

“This is my biggest learning from the years of chairing this club. “When winning, bringing new players in is a very important decision, because you have a winning formula that’s just won.

“Whatever you’re going to add has to be a decision you don’t take very lightly at all.

“You have to bring in players that will strengthen, improve and add competition to the squad.”

Guardiola has signed a new three-year deal with City, keeping him with the Blues until 2021, with Al Mubarak praising the impact the 47-year-old Catalan has made in two years at the club. “Pep has been a joy to have as part of this club” Al Mubarak (above) told City TV. “I am delighted that Pep has committed to continue with us.

“We see eye-to-eye, we shook hands on it and are happy to continue this journey.”