Pep Guardiola says he cannot wait for his team to play in front of fans again after signing a new contract at Manchester City. Guardiola has today agreed a new two-year deal that will see him stay at City until at least 2023. The news has prompted delight from fans and it appears that the feeling is mutual. Guardiola says the history of City shows how important fans are to the club – and that things are not the same without them. The City boss also outlined his desire to one day say goodbye to fans in person when he eventually does depart the Etihad, rather than be faced with the prospect of doing so behind-closed-doors.
Pep Guardiola said “I don’t want to leave without saying hello and maybe bye in the stadium. All the clubs we need fans, but of course especially I am talking about ours. They must know we think a lot about them when we play, especially at home. How empty and sad it is. But hopefully it will finish soon and finally we can be together. I want them to be proud. I know we did it in the past, the way we played in the last few years. But we are looking forward to it again in the stadium. I never forget when I learned about when these fans were in Maine Road, in the second division, not fighting where we are now, and 35,000 follow the team. 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 in UK, Europe as best as possible.”
