Pep Guardiola has weighed in on Jurgen Klopp’s decision to extend his contract at Liverpool and insisted the news won’t affect whether he extends his own deal with the Manchester club.
The Reds boss has agreed to extend his current deal by a further two years meaning he’ll now remain on Merseyside until 2026, and when the City boss was asked about the news in his press conference earlier today, he congratulated the 54-year-old and wished the Merseysiders ‘all the best’.
“Congratulations to Jurgen and Liverpool, it’s really good for the Premier League. I wish them all the best. Everyone has their situation and if we decide to stay longer, it’s because I decide not because my colleague Jurgen extended,” the Spaniard said (as quoted by Anfield Talk’s Twitter page).
With both sides dominating English football, Liverpool and City have developed a tasty rivalry in recent years.
Guardiola’s side are currently one point ahead of us in the Premier League title race and we also have the potential to meet the Sky Blues in the Champions League final this season with us both heading into next week’s semi-final second leg ties in front.
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Although it’s nice for the ex-Barca boss to congratulate Klopp, we have the feeling that deep down there may be some frustration amongst the City ranks.
If it wasn’t for Liverpool and the unbelievably talented squad that our German boss has assembled in recent seasons keeping pace with the Cityzens, the English top-flight would be very similar to what we see in Germany and France with Bayern Munich and PSG nailed on favourites for the title each season.
We have retained the excitement and ensured there is an actual title race each year in the Premier League.
In terms of Guardiola’s contract, his current deal is set to expire at the end of next season and there is yet to be any agreement on an extension.
Although the Spaniard has claimed that Klopp’s new deal won’t have any bearing on his decision to either remain at or leave the Etihad next year, the news that the former Borussia Dortmund boss is staying in the Premier League will either tempt the Spaniard to remain in England and continue the thrilling rivalry or seek a new adventure elsewhere.
That all remains to be seen.
For now, though, let’s hope the Reds can win as much silverware as possible and make this season the club’s greatest ever.