Khaldoon’s trust motivates Guardiola to push City for glory
- 14 May 2021
Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City’s rivals that his addiction to winning will push the Premier League champions to even greater heights next season.
Guardiola clinched his eighth major trophy as City manager when his side were confirmed as Premier League champions for the third time in four seasons on Tuesday.
City also won the League Cup for a fourth consecutive season last month and can win the Champions League for the first time when they face Chelsea in the final on May 29.
In his fifth season at City, Guardiola had already stayed longer at the Etihad Stadium than in either of his previous jobs at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
The Spaniard put an end to any speculation by signing a new deal in November and he admits his thirst for more silverware was not quenched by the 31st trophy of his managerial career.
“It’s so addictive, winning is so nice. You do better, you laugh more, your relations become better. Everything is better, you’re with friends,” he said.
“It’s addictive and, after that, why should you stop when there’s still things to do?
“Why should we not try to improve and win again when still we can do it? Why should we not improve our game-plan, our game, if we can do it?
“I still see things in training and on the pitch I don’t like. We have to improve for the final.
“When you have the feeling it’s enough and the pleasure of winning the Premier League is not something special, it’s the time to say goodbye.
“But I still have this desire to win and the players still love to play football, so we are going to continue.”
City’s success this term has come after Guardiola endured the worst start to a season in his managerial career.
It was during that slump that Guardiola decided to re-commit to the club, feeling he should repay the faith shown in him by chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in the bad moments.
A deal was agreed after talks between the pair in the Maldives and Guardiola is now tied to City until 2023.
“I saw that he trusted me,” said Guardiola, whose side face Newcastle in their first match since winning the title.
“I cannot assure him of success, nobody can, but I saw his eyes and the way we were with our families. I saw it and I trusted him and when that happens you have to do it.
“All the managers in the world, you can be sacked if you don’t win games but after what happened in my first season here – when we didn’t win anything – and the way they were, I could not say ‘no’.”
Agence France-Presse
