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Pep Guardiola doubled down on his future at Man City by insisting he will not return to Barcelona, which hasn’t stopped Rio Ferdinand from making a transfer request over the Spaniard and the Blues.
Guardiola is in the final year of his current Etihad contract and has been linked with a possible Barcelona return. City leaders are keen to keep the Spaniard’s services, although they won’t want the situation to go on for too long as they consider planning for the future.
Barcelona presidential hopeful Victor Font has publicly declared his intention to bring Guardiola back to Camp No if elected, as well as convincing Lionel Messi to stay at the club.
Asked about his future, however, Guardiola insisted after the win against Sheffield United: “I am incredibly happy here, delighted to be at Manchester and hope I can do a good job this season to stay longer.”
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Former Manchester United defender Ferdinand has raised the issue ahead of City’s Premier League clash with the Blades.
“I’ve never really been in this position as a player. Obviously Sir Alex Ferguson has always been fully committed and at heart in this regard,” he told BT Sport. “But Pep is a different animal, a different character.
“It’s more important, I think, what he tells the players. I think if he talks to the players and gives them confidence, then that’s OK.
“But the big issue, I think, with the club in a broader perspective will be recruiting. If they talk to the players that they want to contact in January or in the next window, if I’m that player, I’m I don’t just come over there, really, if Pep is there, or if I at least want to know who’s next in charge before I make up my mind and commit.
“So the bigger picture is probably the biggest question – but his story suggests he’s making late decisions about his contracts and where he wants to go. Man City will likely know that and be very well aware of it. Listen, who? wouldn’t you want that guy in their canoe?
Ferdinand, meanwhile, believes Guardiola could leave the Etihad stadium at the end of the season.
“I see him as having the kind of character that if he felt he was not doing what was expected of him he would be the first to raise his hand and walk away, and continue on to new pastures. “, he added. “He just looks like that type of guy.
“I think he seems quite emotional at times – and he will go with his emotion then. I think he will be brutally honest about that, and City fans won’t want to hear that, because where the going- you from there? But I think that’s the kind of guy he is. I love him. I love everything about the way he is as a manager, if I’m being honest. “
Ferdinand thinks the pressures of the job – coupled with Guardiola’s intensity in doing so – could inform his next decision.
“I think you also have to understand that maintaining that intensity is hard to do,” Ferdinand said. “That’s why you look at the greats of years past who stayed in clubs for many years – the Wengers, Sir Alex Fergusons, etc.
“Doing that year, year after year, with the demands placed on them, as well as the demands they put on themselves from within, is something difficult to understand. That’s why maybe a sabbatical or a change of scenery is what he (Guardiola) might be looking at. “
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