Pep Talk: “I am so grateful to the Club.”

Pep Guardiola is having a great week. He has signed his contract and will be facing arch rival Jose Mourinho. He spoke today about it all.

Let’s dive in-

“I am so grateful to the Club. I say thanks for extending my contract,” Guardiola declared.

“They are the reason I am still here. They gave me a lot these four or five seasons. We want to continue to do our best as well as possible.

“I spoke a lot with the CEO, with Txiki and Khaldoon. We analysed what we could do and everybody knows how difficult it is to win everything.

“All the managers in the big clubs are here to win the titles. I am no exception.

“We have done incredibly well in three years, winning eight titles. The target is not titles, it is winning tomorrow (at Spurs) and after we will see what happens.”

“(I stayed on) For many reasons. One of the main things were my conversations with Khaldoon. This was a key point,” Guardiola added.

“After that, the squad, the city, the Club. Especially how the club behaved in an incredibly difficult period in this year.

“For example, in the furlough period, the club didn’t go to the government or fire one single person.

“They didn’t reduce the wages for anyone here in the club and even paid the bonuses for last season.

“They showed me how good they are in many things.”

“I (always) wanted to stay here,” the City boss asserted. “It wasn’t just my decision; it was the Club as well.

“I said when we signed the contract, we have many things to do.

“The squad are comfortable, and we have to try and do what we have done in the previous season.”

Pep then addressed the future at the club and his motivations-

“In the end we decided that the best for all of us is to continue because still we have the feeling that there is still unfinished business and still there is something to do and continue what we have done in the last years,”

“This club won in the recent past, but together we won a lot and we won a lot and we won again.

“The target at this club, like in the past has not won a lot of titles is continue to try to maintain the structure of the club as long and as much as possible.

“I have the desire to help with all the fantastic players we have for the next years, especially for the fans and we will feel proud of the way we play and the way we win.”

“When that happens, that shows how special a club is. It’s not just about winning titles. Of course it’s important but sometimes it’s more important to not forget what we were.

“What we are right now is really, really good and the target again is fighting all together.

“We want to maintain this level at home and in Europe as best as possible.”

Lastly, Pep addressed injuries and gave an update on that and the game vs Spurs tomorrow-

“Except for Nathan and Fernandinho, the rest have started to come back,” he said at his pre-match press conference.

“Fernandinho is not fit. He has a bit of gastroenteritis, something in his stomach.

“Sergio trained this week. Raheem trained for the first time today with the team.”

“The numbers speak for themselves,”

“They dropped points against West Ham and Newcastle in the last minute. Imagine the points if they hadn’t.

“The quality was always there. They qualified for the Champions League for four or five years and reached the final.

“They have been a good team since Pochettino took over. It is a fantastic squad.”

That is all. What an eventful press conference. Pep also touched on the Leo Messi rumors, but didn’t say anything noteworthy. It will be a fun match tomorrow and I’m sure we are all looking forward to it.