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Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak likened Pep Guardiola to an Aesop’s Fable after threatening to quit ‘100 times’ across his decade as manager.
Guardiola said an emotional farewell to the club last month having presided over unprecedented success and City are hoping to appoint former assistant Enzo Maresca as his successor in the coming days.
Al Mubarak has a history of talking the Catalan into penning new contracts and opened up on their close relationship – revealing how unpredictable moods became entirely predictable.
‘I don’t know if he will admit it, but I consider myself his psychiatrist,’ Al Mubarak said. ‘I had to help him over the years. Not in the good times – the good times is easy – it’s always the challenging part.
‘And 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, just for the record.
‘There’s the story, 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.
Pep Guardiola with Oasis star and City fan Noel Gallagher at an end-of-season celebration
‘I always had a very clear understanding with Pep, because of that analogy of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
‘Whenever he quits or whenever he thinks it’s time, I will always convince him to come back, until the time where I know it’s actually the real time – where it’s actually the real moment Pep decides actually it’s time.
‘There are 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 added: ‘We reached that [point this year]. And I knew it and that’s why I didn’t fight it. Throughout these years, I’ve always fought it and always brought him back because I knew that was always the answer.
‘But in this particular one, I think he knew – and I knew that he knew – and that’s why it was the right thing for him and it was the natural thing. And I will tell you I did not fight this at all because I knew this was the time he actually meant it.
‘Pep changed English football. It’s unquestionable, his influence over the game. He has left his thumbprint on this league. Very few managers will come in and change not just the team but an entire league. Pep has done that.’
Khaldoon Al Mubarak says he didn’t fight when Pep Guardiola said he was leaving this time
Guardiola left having had the North Stand named after him and will be immortalised with a statue outside the Etihad Stadium. Talks are ongoing over Maresca’s compensation package and City are steadfast in believing they have sourced the best man to replace the greatest coach in their history.
City are negotiating with Nottingham Forest over a possible move for England international Elliot Anderson, while they are keen on strengthening at right back and on the wing.
‘This is a club that is built to win by design,’ Al Mubarak said. ‘What Pep has given us has taken us to the next level, and I think we’re so thankful for what he’s helped build here.
‘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.
‘In the summer, we know exactly what we want to do, we know exactly who we are targeting and we’ll go about our business and be as efficient and as swift as possible.’
