Pep Guardiola offers hope of extending Man City stay as the re-energised boss targets further success in his ninth year at the club

Pep Guardiola claimed his love for the job has kept him going into a ninth year at Manchester City in comments that will give supporters hope of a longer stay.

Mail Sport reported in May that key figures at the Etihad Stadium expect their illustrious manager to call time on his trophy-laden spell in charge next summer.

The City board are making a significant play to keep Guardiola until 2026 – taking him to a decade in charge – and have seen a refreshed Catalan take his squad to America in pre-season.

Guardiola revealed this week that he feels re-energised and, at a Puma block party near New York’s Rockefeller Centre, made clear he was ready for an attempt to lift a fifth consecutive Premier League crown.

‘If you love what you do, why should I stop?’ he said. ‘I like it – as much (now as when) they hired me – so let’s go.’

City face AC Milan at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night and are doing so with a scratch squad, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden on holiday.

Rodri is also enjoying an extended break and City are hopeful that any ban handed to him for an inflammatory chant during Spain’s European Championship celebrations will not impact their Champions League campaign.

Along with Alvaro Morata, Rodri was caught singing ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’, which prompted UEFA to open disciplinary proceedings against the pair after the Gibraltar FA lodged a formal complaint.

Both were charged earlier this week and UEFA’s disciplinary body have the power to hand down suspensions for both country and club European competitions simultaneously.

Jude Bellingham was given a suspended ban – officially for both England and Real Madrid – for an alleged obscene gesture made after scoring against Slovakia in the round of 16.

Merih Demiral, the Turkey defender who plays in Saudi Arabia, was banned for two national team matches for a politically charged ‘wolf’ celebration, which is deemed to be linked to a far-right group.

Spain have two fixtures in September and following the previous two cases during the Euros, Rodri is likely to be clear of a potential ban once the Champions League starts later that month.

The Gibraltar FA said that it ‘noted the extremely provocative and insulting nature of the celebrations around the Spanish Men's national team winning Euro 2024. Football has no place for behaviour of this nature.’