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Guardiola “quit 100 times” before final exit, says Man City chairman

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MANCHESTER, England, June 4 : Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has revealed Pep Guardiola “quit 100 times” during a decade at the club before leaving at the end of the season, drawing a line under one of the most successful managerial reigns in English football.

In a wide-ranging interview with City’s in-house media, Al Mubarak said Guardiola repeatedly half-heartedly flirted with leaving over the years, only to be persuaded to continue – until the moment he knew the decision was final.

“Inevitably over these last 10 years we’ve had a lot of ups and some downs. And in the downs, he must have quit 100 times,” Al Mubarak said.

“There’s the story as you all know, ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf.’ In the case of Pep, when he says I quit, it doesn’t mean he’s quitting. You don’t take it that seriously, you have to manage him.

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“I always had a very clear understanding with Pep, because of that analogy of the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’: whenever he quits I will always convince him to come back until the time where I know it’s actually the real moment Pep decides actually it’s time.

“There’s the moments that are not real and he actually needs someone to bring him back. And there was always going to be one moment where it was going to be real.”

Al Mubarak said that as well as becoming close friends with Guardiola he was also the Spaniard’s pseudo “psychiatrist”, pulling him back from the brink in the down times.

Guardiola’s threats to quit finally became real this season, Al Mubarak said, bringing to a close a 10-year tenure he described as “exceptional.”

“We reached that, and I knew it and that’s why I didn’t fight it,” he said. “In this particular (moment), I think he knew, and I knew that he knew … I did not fight this at all because I knew this was the time he actually meant it.”

The 55-year-old Guardiola claimed 20 trophies with City including six Premier League titles and the Champions League before closing his career at the end of a season that saw his side finish league runners-up and win the FA Cup and League Cup.

His departure followed a spell in which City established themselves as the dominant force in English football, reshaping the tactical landscape in the process.

“He changed English football,” Al Mubarak said.

“You look at the way the league has evolved … the way football is played in this league from 10 years ago to today. In my view it’s unquestionable, his influence over the game. He has left his thumbprint over this league.

“Very few managers in football will come in and change not just the team but an entire league. And Pep has done that here.”

Despite Guardiola’s exit, Al Mubarak insisted City’s trajectory would continue upward, and they will appoint the “right manager” for a seamless transition.

“We are far from peaked,” he said. “We are used to, because it’s in our DNA, winning. This is a club that is designed, built to win. What Pep has given us has taken us to the next level.

“We’ve gone through a very thoughtful and structured process and the team is convinced – and I am convinced, rest assured – that we will bring in the right manager for this Club.

“Very soon we’ll announce it and you will be very comfortable that we have selected and brought in the best manager possible for this club.”

Guardiola’s former assistant Enzo Maresca is his expected successor.

Source: Reuters

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