Pep Guardiola has signed a new contract at Manchester City keeping him at the club until 2025.
If the Spaniard remains at the Etihad until the end of his new deal, he’ll have been the Manchester City manager for nine years – by far and away the longest time he’s spent at any club.
However, senior figures at the Etihad believe that Guardiola wouldn’t have signed this new deal if one player had been signed – Cristiano Ronaldo.
Indeed, The Athletic state that many higher-ups at the Etihad have a theory that Guardiola would have left City before 2023 if Ronaldo had been signed.
Of course, the reigning Premier League champions were strongly linked with the Portuguese forward last summer.
To be fair, we can understand where that point of view comes from.
As Manchester United have shown, signing Ronaldo is nothing more than a short-term play, and that’s exactly the type of thing that can push a manager like Guardiola away.
We will never truly know whether or not Pep would have left if Ronaldo was signed, but the fact that many at the Etihad believe this to be the case is telling in itself.
However, instead of opting for a short-term fix, City signed the hottest young property in world football this summer – Erling Haaland.
Haaland’s impact at City has reportedly been a key factor in Guardiola signing this new deal, and it seems as though the Premier League may have to endure a few more years of this devastating partnership.
Ronaldo opting to join Manchester United over City last summer seemed to be a real coup for the Red Devils who were getting one over their nearest rivals, but in the end, in every single way imaginable, failing to secure Ronaldo has worked out for the best for City.
They’ve kept their manager, signed the best striker in the world and watched Ronaldo’s career fall apart at Old Trafford from afar.
It’s fair to say that taking Ronaldo last summer is one of the biggest favours United have ever done for Manchester City.
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