Pep Guardiola has criticised “whispering” Premier League bosses for their views on Manchester City’s successful appeal against a two-season European ban, while also opening the door to extending his stay at the club beyond 2021.
City were cleared of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday, and subsequently saw their original €30 million (£27m/€34m) fine brought down to €10m.
The Blues were found not guilty of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions”, with February’s original ruling overturned following a lengthy appeal process.
There has been a strong reaction to the news at the very highest level of the game, with Jurgen Klopp, Mikel Arteta and Jose Mourinho among those to comment on City’s Champions League reinstatement.
Arteta, who served as Guardiola’s number two before taking the top job at Arsenal in December, insists the club deserved their reprieve, but Liverpool manager Klopp expressed his belief that the final verdict was “not a good day for football”.
Mourinho – the current Tottenham head coach – went a step further by labelling the ruling a “disaster”, highlighting City’s financial penalty as proof of their guilt .
Ahead of City’s midweek meeting with Bournemouth at Etihad Stadium, Guardiola was in defiant mood when quizzed on the comments of his Premier League peers.
The Spaniard told a press conference: “Jose and all the managers should know we were damaged, we should be apologised to. We don’t expect Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea or Wolves to defend us.
“Yesterday was a good day for football. We played with the same rules as everyone. If we break them then we would’ve been banned.
“How many times have people come to our club whispering about us? I’d love for it to finish. Look in our eyes and say something to us, face to face. We’ll shake hands if we lose. But they lost off the pitch. They have to go on the pitch and try to beat us like the sportsmen that we are.
“Don’t go behind (us) and start whispering, seven or eight clubs, on what we should do. Our reputation was damaged. Now we show that they were not true. People should accept it. We should complain and we aren’t. The other (clubs) should say much more on this.
“I know that for elite clubs like Liverpool, United, Arsenal, it is uncomfortable us being here but they have to understand we deserve to be with them and fighting for the achievements that they have achieved in the past. ”
Guardiola only has one more year left to run on his current contract at the Etihad, and although he pledged to remain loyal to City regardless of their proposed Champions League ban, he has yet to commit to fresh terms with the club.
The 49-year-old has now admitted that he would be open to an extension, but doesn’t believe that his future should be discussed until the end of the season.
He added: “Nothing has changed my opinion, maybe I will be able to stay here longer. Now is not the time [to discuss it] we have one month ahead of us, then one year is a long time, the decisions we thought before the sentence are quite similar, I was happy before and now. We have time to think about that.
“Now is the normal situation like every season, if the situation was uncertain I don’t know what would happen. I said I would stay and it didn’t matter if we were in the CL.
“Some people suggested we should play in League Two, I would have stayed. I respect the others, now I said we’ve got an incredible four or five weeks ahead, if we are good enough to beat Arsenal, then we’ll play Champions League and then have time to think about it.”