Tag: Manchester City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has taunted Premier League leaders Liverpool over their failure to match his side’s record 100-point tally.

Guardiola’s troubled side are trailing 16 points behind Liverpool after their bid for a fifth successive English crown collapsed in astonishing fashion.

Liverpool are seven points clear of second-placed Arsenal as they chase a 20th title, which would equal Manchester United’s record.

But even if Arne Slot’s men go on to secure the trophy, they now cannot match the record points total set when City won the first of Guardiola’s six titles in 2017-18.

Responding to criticism of City’s spluttering dynasty after Tuesday’s 3-2 home defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round first leg, Guardiola took a tetchy swipe at Liverpool.

“We took all the records in England. Who would do 100 points now in modern football? I’m waiting,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

“Or four in a row? I’m waiting – with clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves that you have to play.

“The standards, we dictated. Have you seen Liverpool this season? They cannot do 100 points already – 99 but not 100.”

While Liverpool may not surpass fifth-placed City’s record mark, Guardiola accepts his team have fallen behind their rivals this season.

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“I asked ‘Gundo’ (Ilkay Gundogan) yesterday, ‘two years ago you were here, you were one year in Barcelona and you come back here, did you see changes in the Premier League?’,” said Guardiola, whose team host top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday.

“He said massively, the difference was unbelievable. It’s the truth. The teams are much, much, much better in all departments. People prepare so well.

“We cannot do it for the (injury) problems we’ve had. There are a lot of players, with the amount of minutes they have had, who are so tired, emotionally as well.

“But guys, we deserve to have a bad season. We deserve not to be like we were. They are human beings, it can happen. We weren’t consistent and we haven’t had the players at their best.

“It’s the first time that me and many of the players have lived this position but we have to accept it (and recognise) what happened in the past was not normal.”

Pep Guardiola believes the difference from previous successful seasons is that Manchester City are no longer making the most of their dominance of possession.

“I accept when the opponents have the ball, I’m going to suffer,” he said.

“But now we are suffering when we have the ball. It never happened before and, (right) now, I cannot change it. We are suffering because we are human beings.”

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Manchester City on Thursday announced the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush for a reported initial fee of around £59 million ($72.6 million).

The 25-year-old, whose contract is understood to include a potential further £4.2 million in add-ons, has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Premier League champions.

Marmoush is the third signing of Manchester City during the January transfer window following the arrivals of defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

“This is a day I will never forget. To sign for Manchester City — one of the best teams in the world — is an amazing feeling,” he said.

“I am delighted, my family are so proud, and we are all very happy to be here in Manchester.”

Director of football Txiki Begiristain said Omar Marmoush was an “accomplished and exciting forward”.

“He’s had an outstanding season, and every time we have watched him, he has influenced matches,” he said.

“He has all the attributes a top-class attacker requires. He has outstanding pace and awareness, and he is exceptional in front of goal. He can also play a number of different positions, which is a really valuable asset.”

His arrival at the Etihad Stadium comes during a frustrating season for City.

Manchester City, champions for the past four seasons, are currently fifth in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more.

Defeat at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Wednesday has also left Pep Guardiola’s side in danger of missing out on the Champions League knockout stages.

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Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has signed a new 9.5-year deal at Manchester City that will keep him at the Etihad until 2034, the Premier League champions announced on Friday.

The 24-year-old striker’s existing deal was due to expire in June 2027 but he has now committed his future to the club for the next decade.

The Norwegian joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and has scored 111 goals in 126 games for the club.

“I am really happy to have signed my new contract and to be able to look forward to spending even more time at this great club,” said Haaland.

“Manchester City is a special Club, full of fantastic people with amazing supporters and it’s the type of environment that helps bring the best out of everybody.

“I also want to thank Pep, his coaching staff, my teammates and everyone at the Club as they have all helped me so much in the past couple of years. They have made this such a special place to be and now I am City no matter what.

“I want to keep developing, keep working to get better and look to do my best to try and help us achieve more success going forward.”

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Manchester City’s outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “Everyone at the club is absolutely delighted that Erling has signed his new contract.

“The fact he is signed for so long demonstrates our commitment to him as a player, and his love of this club.

“He has made an incredible impact already in his time here and his amazing numbers and records speak for themselves.

“But in addition to his outstanding natural talent and ability, Erling’s dedication, professionalism, humility and desire to keep getting better sum up what we all strive to achieve at Manchester City.

“He is one of the finest strikers in world football, but Erling is still very young and will only continue to improve working under Pep and his coaching team. If he works hard, which I know he will, he will create an incredible legacy at this football club.

“Now he can focus on his game and continuing to play a huge part in helping us try to achieve even more success.”

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Pep Guardiola said he would not “take another club” after ending his stint as Manchester City manager, although he left open the possibility of coaching a national team.

Shortly after signing a contract extension in November, Guardiola gave an interview in Manchester to visiting Spanish celebrity chef Dani Garcia, who posted the conversation on his YouTube channel.

“I feel this is enough. I’m going to stop. I’m not going to take another team,” Guardiola said. “I’m not talking about the long-term future, but what I’m not going to do is leave Man City, go to another country, and do the same thing as now.

“I wouldn’t have the energy. The thought of starting somewhere else, all the training and so on. No, no, no! Maybe a national team, but that’s different.

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“I want to leave it and go and play golf but I can’t. I think stopping would do me good.”

Pep Guardiola has previously expressed an interest in coaching at international level later in his career.

“That’s different. It’s not (training) every day, (playing) every three days,” he said. “To rest, to see what we have done, what we can do better because day-to-day we don’t have much time to rest.”

In a conversation that included his taste in food and his philosophy of life, Guardiola told Garcia that from the start of his career ,he had looked to one day having time to study French, play golf and learn to cook.

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Pep Guardiola has extended his contract as manager of Premier League champions Manchester City for a further two seasons, saying Thursday “I could not leave now” with the club facing arguably the toughest period of his time at the Etihad Stadium.

There had been speculation the 53-year-old’s City career could be coming to an end, with the club facing an uncertain future due to an ongoing hearing over 115 breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations. However, the club has completely denied the charges.

City are also currently on a four-game losing streak in all competitions — the worst of Guardiola’s managerial career, excluding penalty shoot-outs — although they are second in the Premier League, five points behind leaders Liverpool.

However, reports emerged on Tuesday that Pep Guardiola, who took over at Manchester City in 2016 and has since won a total of 18 trophies across all competitions, including six Premier League titles, would stay.

This was despite City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain, a close ally of Guardiola, having already confirmed his exit at the end of the campaign. Begiristain is to be replaced by Sporting Lisbon’s Hugo Viana, a former Newcastle player.

But with City on an English record-breaking run of four successive top-flight titles, Guardiola — who led the club to a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble in 2023 — said he had changed his mind about this being his last season at the Etihad.

“Now I cannot leave,” the Catalan boss said in an interview on the club’s website after agreeing to remain at the Etihad until 2027. “Maybe the four defeats were the reason why I felt I cannot leave.”

Guardiola, who has repeatedly been asked about his future in recent weeks, added: “Since the beginning of the season I was thinking a lot at the moment, I will be honest, I thought (this season) should be the last one.

“But in the same moment the situation comes, the problems we have in the last month, I felt now was not the time to leave. I don’t want to let the club down, I would say.

“I felt the confidence from the chairman (Khaldoon Al Mubarak) and Txiki and everyone, and I had the feeling I have to do it.”

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Pep Guardiola said the treble, which saw City crowned champions of Europe for the first time in their history, represented a “dream come true”, while four Premier League titles in a row were “amazing”.

He insisted, however, that he still had a job to do to help City hit those heights again.

“But you have a past, (there have) been lessons and mistakes that we have overcome to arrive in the moment where you are more stable and more consistent,” he said.

“We have to recover that because right now we don’t have it and that’s the target we have to do.”

Guardiola, who previously enjoyed a trophy-laden career as a player and coach at Barcelona before taking charge of German giants Bayern Munich, said in an initial club statement: “Manchester City means so much to me… I have a really special feeling for this football club. That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.”

Guardiola, who thanked the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owner Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman Ferran Soriano, Begiristain and the fans for their support, explained: “I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.

“Hopefully now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “Like every City fan, I am delighted that Pep’s journey with Manchester City will continue; allowing his dedication, passion and innovative thinking to continue to shape the landscape of the game.”

The influence of Guardiola, renowned for his possession-based style of football, extends well beyond the Etihad, with two of his former assistants — Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca — now in charge of Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, respectively.

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Pep Guardiola expressed hope that Manchester City will bounce back after his team suffered a fourth straight defeat for the first time during his stellar managerial career.

City’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Saturday came after losses to Tottenham in the League Cup, Bournemouth in the Premier League and Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Guardiola’s men, chasing an unprecedented fifth straight Premier League title, are now five points behind leaders Liverpool after 11 matches in the English top flight.

“I was a football player and many times I lost a lot of games — four in a row, five in a row, six in a row,” said Pep Guardiola.

“I never expect different, the fact we won in the past, that we are special. People can believe that but it’s not true.”

Manchester City are struggling badly with injuries, with Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish among those absent for the defeat at Bournemouth.

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“We are not consistent enough to maintain this level that helped us to win what we want for many years,” said Guardiola. “Hopefully in the future, we’ll come back, and if we don’t come back we’ll learn from that.”

City have been champions in six of the past seven seasons but it is not uncommon for them to stumble in the autumn.

Last season they won just one league game in six during a spell in November and December but recovered to retain the title.

“Don’t be complacent when you win a lot, know how difficult it is,” said Guardiola. “That makes us believe how difficult it was and how nice it will be when we win again.”

He added: “Right now we are not in our best, it’s obvious. But still, it’s November so hopefully we’ll come back step by step. Every game will be tough for every team. We’ll recover our best and then we’ll see.”

After the current international break, Manchester City face a testing run-up to Christmas with matches against Tottenham, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Aston Villa.

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Manchester City midfielder Rodri will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, dealing a huge blow to their hopes of winning a fifth straight Premier League title.

City manager Pep Guardiola said the Spain international, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in last week’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal, had gone under the knife on Friday.

“He had surgery this morning, ACL and some meniscus,” he said. “So, next season he will be here. This season is over.”

Rodri is one of City’s most important players and his loss will be keenly felt by Guardiola, who is also seeking to regain the Champions League crown.

The City boss, speaking on the eve of his team’s Premier League match against Newcastle, said it was the worst news possible, underlining the importance of the defensive midfielder he has called “irreplaceable”.

“We have to do it as a team and find a way to play during a lot of months without an important player for us,” he said.

“Everybody knows it. Speedy recovery and next season he will compete against them.

“We are stronger with him, we’re stronger with Nathan Ake, we are strong with Oscar Bobb.

“All the injuries we did not want it, but football happens.”

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Rodri played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win a fourth straight Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as Spain emerged triumphant.

Each of City’s past four Premier League defeats have all come when the former Atletico Madrid player has not featured in the side.

The 28-year-old, touted as a potential Ballon d’Or winner, is unbeaten in his past 52 Premier League appearances, a run stretching back to February 2023.

Guardiola, whose team are top of the Premier League, said he had a number of alternatives among his group of “magnificent players”, including Mateo Kovacic, a like-for-like replacement.

“Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) can play in that position. John Stones and Manu (Manuel Akanji) have played in that position. So we have an alternative to do it,” he said.

Guardiola was asked whether City would dip into the transfer market in January.

“We’ll talk today with Txiki (Begiristain, the director of football), we’ll see how it’s going on,” he said.

“It’s closed until January, so we’ll have time and see potential problems we have, and after we’ll see.”

Rodri, who joined City in 2019, had already had a frustrating start to the season, missing Manchester City’s first four games, including the Community Shield, after suffering a hamstring injury.

Only last week he joined a host of high-profile players to speak out about the ever-increasing fixture workload facing the game’s top stars, and said he thought players could be “close” to striking because of the overloaded calendar.

City will also be without Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for their trip to Newcastle as he continues to recover from injury.

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MANCHESTER: Manchester City forward Erling Haaland on Sunday, added another feather to his cap by equalling legendary Cristiano Ronaldo’s 13-year-old record of the fastest to 100 goals for a European club.

Haaland achieved the milestone in City’s Premier League clash against Arsenal, which ended in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

The Norweigan striker gave the home side a head start by netting the opener just nine minutes into the game.

With that goal, he became the 19th player for Manchester City to amass the 100-goal landmark, joining the likes of Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling.

Erling Haaland achieved the feat in the fewest appearances for the City and thus drew level with Cristiano Ronaldo, who also conceded 105 matches to score 100 goals for Real Madrid in 2011.

Top 10 players with the fastest to 100 goals for a European club

Erling Haaland (Manchester City): 105
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid): 105
Luis Suarez (Barcelona): 120
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain): 124
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus): 131
Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Manchester United): 131
Edinson Cavani (Napoli): 135
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich): 136
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain): 137
Christian Vieri (Inter Milan): 138

Furthermore, Erling Haaland, who has been in a purple patch since the start of this year’s Premier League, has scored nine goals in just four matches.

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His tally of nine goals is the highest by a player in the first four matches of the Premier League edition, going past Wayne Rooney, who scored eight goals for Manchester United in the 2011/12 season.

Since joining the City in 2022, Haaland helped the club to achieve new heights. He ended the 2022/23 season as the leading goal-scorer with 36 and played a pivotal role in leading Manchester City to their fourth-consecutive Premier League title.

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Ilkay Gundogan said he had returned to the “best club in the world” after re-signing for Manchester City from Barcelona on Friday.

The former German international won five Premier League titles and the Champions League among 12 major trophies during his first spell at City between 2016 and 2023.

Gundogan departed the English champions just over a year ago to join Barcelona.

However, the 33-year-old and the Catalan giants reportedly agreed to rescind his contract after just one season to pave the way for a return to the Etihad.

In his sole season in Spain, Gundogan scored five goals and provided 14 assists but Barca failed to win a trophy.

“I’m incredibly happy,” Gundogan said in a City statement. “Happy to see the team-mates, the staff, people that over seven years I had an amazing time with, a very successful time with. Many ups, and a few downs, but in general, an incredible experience.

“When you leave this place like I did last year, you spend a year away, and you then start to appreciate the place even more. You realise what you had. You realise how amazing that time was.

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“You realise how big the club is — the best club in the world.”

Gundogan’s return is a timely boost for Manchester City after the departure of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for a reported fee of up to 95 million euros (£81 million, $104 million).

He was Pep Guardiola’s first signing when both joined the club in 2016.

Ilkay Gundogan went on to score 60 goals in 304 appearances and will provide experience and depth to Guardiola’s squad as they go for a record-extending fifth consecutive Premier League title.

“Ilkay is one of the finest professionals I have ever worked with. His dedication to football and his approach to every single training session is something special,” said City’s Director of Football Txiki Begiristain.

“To be able to bring him back here is fantastic news for everyone. He will help us in our main objective, which is to win trophies, but he will also be an inspiration to so many.”

Ilkay Gundogan is City’s second signing of the transfer window after the arrival of Brazilian winger Savinho.

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Manchester City will be without Rodri for the start of their Premier League title defence after Pep Guardiola revealed the Spain midfielder has been ruled out of Sunday’s opener against Chelsea.

The influential 28-year-old has only just returned to training after being forced off at half-time during Spain’s 2-1 win against England in last month’s Euro 2024 final.

While England trio Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker hope to feature at Stamford Bridge after their post-Euros break, Rodri has not been cleared to return to action.

Asked on Friday if Rodri could be involved against Chelsea, Guardiola told reporters: “No chance.

“He is in training. I don’t know, I haven’t seen him yet. He feels good. We’ll have to see how he feels after training.”

Rodri’s absence is an early blow to City’s bid to win a fifth successive Premier League title.

Manchester City would love to make a strong start to their title defence in west London, but Guardiola admitted fitness issues could hamper them on the opening weekend.

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Foden, Stones and Walker are not fully fit after only returning to training in midweek following their holidays.

“I’m pretty sure they won’t be ready for 90 minutes, maybe yes, maybe 15 minutes,” Guardiola said.

“The important thing is everybody is back and except for Oscar (Bobb) the rest are OK.”

Bobb will have surgery on Friday to repair a fractured bone in his leg following a non-contact training ground incident on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola expects the young Norway winger to be sidelined for up to four months.

“Unfortunately, he had a big impact and got injured,” Guardiola said. “He is having surgery this afternoon.

“Hopefully, it will go well and he will be back in three or four months. We are so sad for him.”

Bobb’s setback follows the recent departure of Argentina forward Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid and Guardiola said he could be forced into the transfer market for replacements.

“Maybe or maybe not, we will see,” the Spaniard said. “I’m really pleased with the squad I have, we will see. I’m set.

“We will see what happens in the market. We can continue to January in that way or maybe we will add some players.”

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