CITY WILL BUNG PEPA MEGA DEAL AFTER BEATING EURO BAN

With ban overturned City can embark on a transfer spree to boost squad, but first he wants to land Champions League trophy

MANCHESTER CITY will offer boss Pep Guardiola a lucrative new long-term deal after overturning their Champions League ban.

City won their appeal against their two-year UEFA ban for breaking Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

DESPITE their bullish stance throughout their appeal, the sense of relief at Manchester City was palpable.

Within minutes of their two-year Champions League ban being lifted, a selfie of a grinning Pep Guardiola and the City hierarchy appeared on social media.

A beaming Guardiola was flanked by trusted assistant Manuel Estiarte, chief executive Ferran Soriano, sporting director Txiki Begiristain and chief operating officer Omar Berrada.

Behind them (above right) was a TV, broadcasting the news that City’s ban had been quashed, the club having avoided the potential unravelling of their hugely successful £1billion football project.

The emotion of the picture said it all: for all their public confidence in the Court of Arbitration for Sport vindicating them, confirmation was greeted with the unashamed joy and elation of a trophy win.

Two years without Champions League football would have been catastrophic for City, not just in terms of lost revenue and status, but with the inevitable exodus of star players.

Now, though, with the ban overturned, City can embark on rebuilding their squad this summer and looking to tie Guardiola – who has one year left on his contract – down to a new long-term deal.

Guardiola prides himself on never having broken a managerial contract, but with City out of Europe for two years, the prospect of him leaving next year was an uncomfortable prospect for them. But with the Blues effectively exonerated and keeping their seat at European club football’s top table, persuading Guardiola to extend his glittering spell is a much easier sell for his employers. City may have failed this season in their quest for a third straight title, but under Guardiola they remain a formidable team.

Eight trophies under him, including an historic domestic treble last season, underlines that fact, which is why City are so desperate to keep hold of the feted 49-yearold for as long as they can.

Against that backdrop, overturning the ban is arguably City’s biggest

triumph, more so than the four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups won courtesy of Sheikh Mansour’s billions since his seismic 2008 takeover, which transformed the perennial under-achievers overnight.

While City’s squad needs strengthening, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva would have had legitimate reasons for seeking a move, rather than endure two seasons in European exile.

But with the ban no more and a big summer outlay planned on at least three new signings – a centre-back, leftback and a striker – City can look to the future with renewed hope and confidence.

Dumped from the Champions League by UEFA on Valentine’s Day, City’s lovehate relationship with the competition has been rekindled.

Just don’t expect City and UEFA to kiss and make up, especially if Guardiola and his players lift the trophy in Lisbon next month. What a delicious twist that would be.