Pep future up in the air after Europe shock

MAJOR QUESTION MARKS APPEAR FOR GUARDIOLA

CITY’S shock Champions League ban could have major repercussions for the future of boss Pep Guardiola.

The Blues were dramatically handed a two-year ban from UEFA competitions last night along with a fine of 30m euros, around £25m.

The club say they will appeal ‘at the earliest opportunity’ to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and remain confident of the decision being overturned.

However, if the ban does stand it will surely raise major questions about the long-term future of Guardiola, who City worked so hard to woo from Bayern Munich in 2016.

Some bookmakers have him as short as 1/5 to leave in the summer following last night’s bombshell announcement and just 7/2 to stay on next term if the ban stands.

Guardiola’s contract at the Etihad, which he signed an extension to in 2018, expires at the end of next season, in summer 2021. He has previously said he is ‘so comfortable’ in his role and has said he could sign a new one and remain at the club beyond then, something the club are known to want as well.

However, persuading him to stay could become somewhat trickier if the club has no European football.

The Blues face Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League, with the first leg in the Bernabeu in a fortnight and Pep this week spoke of his deep love for the competition.

He said: “I want to win the Champions League.

“I dream of it and I will enjoy preparing for the games against Madrid, to see what we can do and this process, two weeks before, will be the happiest moments of my profession, to imagine what we can do to beat them.

“If we don’t beat them, OK, come the chairman or the sport director and say, ‘it’s not good enough, we want the Champions League, I’m going to sack you.’

“I’d say ‘thank you, it was a pleasure.’

“I don’t know. It has happened many times and could maybe happen.”

Speaking in May last year Pep insisted he ‘trusted the club’ on Financial Fair Play and that they were innocent.

The chances of City ever deciding to dispense with his services are extremely slim – if not zero.

But fans have already started to worry about his future – pondering if a coach of his quality, who has won the competition twice with Barcelona as a manager, would be willing to manage a team that was outside of Europe’s elite.

And there will undoubtedly be no

Fans have started to ponder whether a coach of Pep’s ability would manage a side outside of Europe’s elite

Chris Slater