Pep Guardiola spoke of his pride at winning the Premier League title and now wants to finish break records before the end of the season....
Pep Guardiola spoke of his pride at winning the Premier League title and now wants to finish break records before the end of the season.
The Manchester City boss claimed his first league title in English football when they were confirmed as champions at the weekend with five league games remaining.
His side can break the records for most points, most wins and most goals before the end of the season and the Catalan coach wants to finish the season in style.
"I'm proud to be part of this organisation. It is a huge club. We've won the most important title of the season. Being part of this family, it's huge," he told a news conference ahead of Sunday's clash with Swansea City.
"In the past when I won the league early at Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the next few games were not good. But a good argument to keep going is the records. It would be nice to finish good in terms of good feelings.
"The important thing is to win the title but maybe the records can help us be focused against the teams fighting to avoid relegation."
Guardiola is two years into the three-year deal he signed when he joined the club in June 2016 and confirmed that he is ready to open talks over a contract extension at the end of the season.
"We are going to speak with the club at the end of the season. I have one more year, so I am not finishing now," he said.
"So at that time, we are going to see what they think, what we think, what is their perspective for the organisation for the future. It also depends on my energy and strength to keep going. Now I feel good. I feel comfortable being here.
"We will speak with [director of football] Txiki Begiristain, [chief executive] Ferran Soriano and [chairman] Khaldoon al Mubarak. We are going to decide what is best for the club, for everybody. I'm good."
Asked if he could potentially stay more than four years, Guardiola added: "I don't know. Football changes a lot. Now the people say we are champions, everyone's happy, and immediately you lose that feeling.
"You feel the team are an amazing group of guys, the players and the staff, but you can lose that. You can drop it.
"I know how we are going to react, even myself after winning the Premier League. I don't know how the players will see me after winning, or how I will see them. Now it's okay. Everything's good.
"But football changes over nothing. In these next five games, we will see how we react to success. It will be a good test for all of us to see what will happen next season."
Meanwhile, Guardiola confirmed that Sergio Aguero will miss the rest of the season but he hopes the striker should be ready for the World Cup with Argentina.
The 29-year-old is recovering from a knee operation after not starting a match for the last six weeks.
"It is four or five weeks," Guardiola said. "Hopefully we are going to try for him to be ready for the World Cup. He is in Barcelona right now for the first part of the rehabilitation."
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