#pep-guardiola

#pep-guardiola

This from Daily Telegraph Football News Correspondent Matt Law, as captured by @iMiaSanMia: Vincent Kompany is heavily involved in Bayern's summer transfer plans. Sources who work closely with the club do not expect him to leave even if the Manchester City post becomes available at the end of the season, amid growing belief this will be Pep Guardiola's final season in charge of City [@Matt_Law_DT]

There's no denying that Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side of the late 2000s and early 2010s was one of the greatest of the modern era. As well as the silverware - three La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and two Champions Leagues among other gongs - the team's style of play, influence and legacy mean that Guardiola's team's place in the history books is secure forever.

Neither were at the property at the time with Dias, who is currently injured, watching City's Champions League clash with Galatasaray on Wednesday and Jama working abroad. Lijnders said: "I didn't speak with him personally but Rúben will come back on Monday to team training. "These are the things you don't want to happen. We will support him and let's see how it goes from there."

Mikel Arteta has said failing to maintain his "great" relationship with Pep Guardiola amid a title race would set a "bad example" for sport and instead pointed to the respectful rivalry between tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The pair first met at Barcelona's La Masia academy when Arteta was just 15 years old and he later worked under Guardiola at Manchester City for three seasons prior to becoming Arsenal boss in 2019.

Michael Carrick will be in the home dugout on Saturday aiming to cause a surprise on his return to Manchester United. Carrick has taken over as the club's interim head coach until the end of the season following the sacking of Ruben Amorim on January 5. The former United midfielder could scarcely have asked for a more difficult first test than the visit of Manchester City.

Manchester City are interested in signing Dro Fernandez from Barcelona in the January transfer window, according to . The report in the Spanish news outlet has claimed that Fernandez has already told Barcelona that he wants to leave midway through the season, with Man City among the clubs keen on a deal. The report has claimed that Man City manager Pep Guardiola has personally told the club to make a move for Fernandez.

Not only did City manager Guardiola not agree with that decision, but he feels the Norwegian is being singled out too often. "He is the only striker in the world that makes more fouls than defenders do on him," Guardiola said. "That is his biggest attribute. That is really good. He is only the striker in my life that makes more fouls to defenders than defenders to him. I've never seen this."

If you still have the stamina for more football quizzes, we have curated a fresh batch of challenges to test the depth of your footballing obsession, all courtesy of Kwizly. From the storied history of the world's oldest cup competition to the global reach of the World Cup, there is plenty here to keep you occupied. We'll start with a tribute to the tactical masterminds of the domestic game. We want to see how many FA Cup-winning managers you can name, from 2025 backwards.

The Negreira case has been making a lot of noise in Spanish football spheres, with the matter involving Barcelona's payments to Jose Enriquez Negreira during his time as the vice president of the Referees' Technical Committee (CTA) being currently investigated in courts. Barcelona maintain that the payments, handed out between 2001 and 2018, were made in exchange for reports on referees and scouting reports, and there has been no evidence of any wrongdoing.

I already played a lot on the wing, although I drifted centrally, and he put me in the middle. That position suited me perfectly. Working with him was on another level, because he already knew everything the other team was going to do, he had everything prepared, and things just fell into place during the match. It's another level.