LEAGUE
MANCHESTER CITY chief executive Ferran Soriano insists that Pep Guardiola will honour his contract at the Etihad.
Guardiola’s future became shrouded in doubt when it was revealed in September that the Catalan’s wife returned to live in Barcelona and that the twoyear deal he signed last year may include a break clause that could be triggered this summer.
But with City’s title defence in ruins following Friday night’s 3-2 defeat at Wolves, the Blues chief has come out to insist that Guardiola is going nowhere.
Soriano, speaking at the Dubai International Sports conference, said: “Pep has said so many times that he has a contract that covers this year, plus next year too. There is no discussion about this. Pep will stay and he’ll leave at the right time one day – and the club is strong enough to survive any change.
“But as Pep said many times, he’s not leaving.”
LIVERPOOL veteran James Milner believes the club could have a truly global superstar in young defender Trent Alexander-arnold. Milner reckons there’s no limit on what heights the 21-year-old local lad can reach for both club and country.
Alexander-arnold turned in a starring role as Liverpool crushed closest rivals Leicester to move 13 points clear at the top of the table.
The kid fromwest Derby made two and scored one himself as Jurgen Klopp’s men destroyed Leicester 4-0. Next up it’s Wolves this afternoon as Milner and his team-mates try to keep the Mersey men’s astonishing unbeaten league run going.
Milner said: “He can be very good. He’s pretty good now, isn’t he?when you see the amount of games he’s played and occasions he’s played in – Champions League finals, big games, pushing for the league title games.
“There’s a lot more to come from him. He’s going to make mistakes and will have to bounce back from them.you get disappointments.the manager has taken him out of the team at times, but he always shows the right attitude.
“He knows it’s for his benefit or the benefit of the team. His mentality is absolutely spot on and his ability is incredible.
“I think there’s a lot more to come from him and he will keep on improving and be a massive player for Liverpool for many years to come.”
Milner, 34 next Saturday, believes the raiding full-back has the potential to become one of the truly great players.
He adds: “One hundred per cent. There’s a long way to go and we don’t want him to become a big head, but he won’t because there’s plenty of people around him in this dressing room that if he does, they will pop it straight away.
“For me, one of the most impressive things about him is his mentality.you can admire him ability-wise but his mentality is great. He’s got a great attitude. That’s so important.
“He will keep improving and if he keeps doing what he’s doing now for the foreseeable future, given how young he is, he’ll have people talking about him for a long, long time.”
Milner and his young charge are hellbent on ending the 30-year wait to be champions.a lot of people are saying the title race is over but Milner’s not having it.
He adds: “As long as none of those people are over at the Melwood training ground, then we will be fine.we literally look no further than the next game.”
Milner says the players can feel a sense of trust from the terraces that they are going about things the right way.
“The expectation is there, but it’s shifted.
We want it bad and the supporters want it more, with the wait they’ve had and how close we’ve come before.
“That’s why we want to play for Liverpool because it’s a massive club and that expectation is there. But you feel more of a trust around Anfield now within the team and you can feel it from the stands.
“We know how badly they want it. But we feel like they are completely with us and there’s a trust in the squad which is maybe different to seasons before and hopefully we can repay them at the end of the season.”
RAUL JIMENEZ sayswolves can halt Liverpool’s Premier League title juggernaut.
The Mexican and his team-mates were in bullish mood after Manchester City left Molineux with a 3-2 defeat following a stirring home revival.
That victory pushed the Black Country club up to fifth and with just one defeat in their last 15 top-flight
outings, Nuno Espirito
Santo’s men are primed to cause an upset today.
“Why not?” Jimenez said after being asked about Wolves’ chances. “It’s going to be tough – but we know that. We’re always ready for a fight.”
Matt Doherty, who scored the winner against Manchester City, said Liverpool won’t be taking the threat lightly. He said: “I’m sure Liverpool were watching us.they’ll have done their homework. It’s going to be incredibly tough.
“But the important thing for us is that we go there thinking we can win the game.
“We’re two points off fourth place now and if we can go there and win then we will be in an unbelievable position in the Newyear.”
Wolves’ skipper Conor Coady, a dyed-in-the-wool Red as a youngster, said: “We can’t wait for it.we want to test ourselves up there.
“We’ve tested ourselves against one of the best in the world – Manchester City – and Liverpool are the best in the world.
“We go there looking at ourselves, listening to the manager.we are a team full of confidence.”