Pep Guardiola - King of the Carabao Club

I didn't really see him play much for Arminia Bielefeld, but I do recall reading somewhere that he was very highly rated. Probably went under the radar of most people since he was playing for such a humble club.

EXCLUSIVE: Pep Guardiola has agreed a new contract at Man City. Not yet signed but now in place + understood to commit 51yo Spaniard to club until 2025 via two-year deal. Sealed on visit to #MCFC owners in Abu Dhabi. W/ @SamLee @polballus @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/KU3ONwYP9K

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) November 22, 2022

Not a surprise! With Haaland now on team, he would be a fool to leave.

Casciavit wrote:German Legacy

How good was Stefan Ortega last year? City signed him as their backup to Ederson, but he’s legitimately a better shot stopper than him. He needs to start in the CL. He was super clutch against Chelsea tonight.

Bayern wanted to sign Ortega as a backup too. Was absolutely fantastic the last couple of seasons. For Bielefeld, of course, and he's not young anymore, so no big club dared to make him no. 1 even though he's probably better than 80% of starting GKs in the top leagues..

futbol_bill wrote:Not a surprise! With Haaland now on team, he would be a fool to leave.

Even without Haaland, he would be a fool to leave. Why would you leave a megarich club that can get you any player you want, gives you a terrific salary, and doesn't demand that you win the CL otherwise you will be sacked? He's living the dream

I think he does face some future issues, or elements of uncertainty with some of his key midfielders growing older or considering other options. I might be wrong, but it looks to me like KDB is showing some signs of a decrease in consistency. And that's common for players in their 30s, but with how much the club have been relying on his ability to sustain his lofty standards in recent years, I think they may be in for a rude awakening when he starts ghosting through games more frequently. Gundogan seems to be on his way out, Bernardo Silva may leave as well.

Those 3 aren't easily replaceable, and the midfield is key to how Pep wants to play. But of course, there probably aren't any other clubs that are going to allow him the luxury of composing his own team to quite the same extent that Man City have allowed him to. He has a strong and pretty stable core at Man City, and apart from Haaland, there's also Foden and Alvarez who are both young and have a lot of potential. But the midfield will likely become an issue unless the club manages to bring in adequate replacements.

Haaland already told Bellingham to join Man City, 2 weeks ago it was reported that initial talks have already started between the clubs aswell

Obligatory bump after yesterday