Pep Guardiola’s loyalty and hunger behind Man City contract extension

News of Pep Guardiola's decision to extend his contract as Manchester City manager is a major boost for the club.

His future was unclear as his contract expires in June. He had hinted at a possible departure in some of his media comments and the confirmed departure of sporting director Txiki Begiristain next summer only added to the uncertainty.

What's behind his decision to extend his contract for another year, with an option for another year, which would take him until 2027? Sky Sports News reporter Ben Ransom gives the overview.

Loyalty and hunger key

I've always been fairly confident he would renew, but it's clearly a decision he's given some serious thought to.

I think it's twofold, but the most important factor is loyalty. Pep loves Manchester City. He loves the club. Let's not forget that it was built for him when he landed in 2016.

He has everything he could want to be successful and he also has the absolute support of the club's hierarchy. They were determined to keep him. That attraction is very strong.

He is very settled and knows the players inside and out. I don't think he could match that at any other club.

Plus, he's clearly still hungry. I think he's been wondering that this season. Does he still have the hunger to continue and rebuild this team?

Because that's what he'll have to do. This is already what I would call the third version of Pep's Manchester City.

He had the old team, which consisted of Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero. Then there was the record-breaking team built around Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva. He had also signed John Stones. Kyle Walker, Ederson and others.

Then there is the Erling Haaland team, which we have seen in recent seasons and which clearly took him to the high notes.

But in terms of contracts, look at the players coming to the end of their deals. In the summer he could lose De Bruyne, who is struggling with an injury and turns 34 in June.

He then lets players like Bernardo Silva, Walker, Stones, Ederson and Stefan Ortega expire their contracts in 2026.

So it needs a rebuild and I think it will be revitalized by that challenge. He must be.

How City differs from Barcelona and Bayern

I have often asked him what differences we see with Pep now compared to Pep earlier in his career.

Why is he willing to stay at City for so long after spending just four and three years at Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively?

He has grown over the years at Manchester City. He's a different person. But the circumstances are also completely different.

In Barcelona he was absolutely crushed by that war, for lack of a better word, with Jose Mourinho. It took everything. Every time they played Real Madrid the press conferences were so vicious. Mourinho really tried to upset him in every possible way.

It was exhausting and he got to the point where he felt he couldn't go any further.

There is so much more focus at Barcelona than at Manchester City. There is so much more pressure on the manager's shoulders.

He was a young manager who at the start of his career was trying to play in a way that would revolutionize the game, and I think all those external factors were difficult.

It was similar at Bayern Munich. He was clearly seduced by the project. It was an 'easy' job in the sense that they were champions.

But again, it was very different to Manchester City. At Bayern there is always that pronounced hierarchy, while in England when do you hear of Begiristain, Ferran Soriano or even Khaldoon Al Mubarak? Very rarely.

There is also little noise outside the club. There are no former Manchester City players who comment on the way you do it at other clubs.

At Bayern they have huge, legendary figures who work both within the club and outside. They are always in the media and doing interviews.

So when things weren't going well for him, when he had failures in the Champions League, it became difficult.

I think he felt he had reached a natural end to the cycle there, partly because of those factors, but he hasn't reached that point yet at City, even after eight years.

Pep excited about Viana coupling?

Pep will feel an obligation, both for the arrival of Hugo Viana as Begiristain's replacement, and for Manchester City as a club. He wouldn't want to let them down.

I think it goes back to the loyalty factor. Begiristain's departure at the end of the season will leave a big hole in the hierarchy. Losing Guardiola would take away all stability.

Imagine being Viana and finding yourself in those circumstances, with all the contract situations we talked about.

You would lose the man considered the best manager in the world, one of the best of all time, but also the stability that comes from building the club around him.

I believe his extension shows that he is excited about the prospect of Viana coming in and the opportunity to work within a new system and structure.

Before Viana arrives, there is of course the matter of the January window. City were already short in midfield before Rodri's injury, so they will see January as an opportunity.

I remember asking Pep and the club again and again last summer if they would like a midfielder. The sound was that this might be the case if something were to happen, but it was not an immediate priority.

Well, maybe it should have been, because without Rodri they didn't seem the same team.

Ilkay Gundogan was a great signing in the sense that he came cheap and he knows the Pep system, but he is not the same player we saw two years ago.

They need someone else and they will have to judge whether the January market, which they always say is difficult, is the time to act.

Keep in mind that whether it's January or the summer, they will have to move some players and make signings as part of this rebuild. Pep is ready for those challenges.

Siege mentality around financial costs

I think there is an element of siege mentality at the club in relation to the 115 charges brought by the Premier League for alleged financial breaches.

Pep is the man who has had to answer all the media's questions about these allegations. Like I said, no one else at the club is speaking, so Pep is the one. He gets it every week.

He exudes calm, but he will of course have taken the accusations into account in his considerations about his contract extension.

It was interesting when asked a few weeks ago about comments from Mikel Arteta, who said he had “all the information” about City having worked there.

Pep immediately brought forward the charges and insisted the club had done nothing wrong. That told me he's thinking about them, even if he doesn't give that impression.

His feeling is that everyone hates us, everyone is against us, but we know we have done nothing wrong.

That has been the club's message throughout and Pep is very optimistic about that this season. I think his decision to extend shows the siege mentality in action.