Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola signs two-year contract extension

Spaniard will remain at the club until at least the end of 2022-23 season

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is thrown in the air by his players after winning the Premier League in 2018. AFP

City manager Pep Guardiola with Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante after their Premier Leaguer game in June 2020. AFP

Pep Guardiola congratulates his City players following the their Premier League win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in December 2016.

Pep Guardiola with his City squad after beating Liverpool on penalties to win the 2019 Community Shield at Wembley. AFP

Pep Guardiola holds the Premier League trophy after winning the title in 2018. AFP

Pep Guardiola celebrates after beating Aston Villa to win the League Cup at Wembley in May 2020. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)

Pep Guardiola celebrates after City attacker Raheem Sterling scored an injury-time winner in their Premier game against Southampton at the Etihad in November 2017

Pep Guardiola with Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp ahead of their Premier League game at Anfield in December 2016. AFP

Pep Guardiola congratulates his players after City's 1-0 Premier League win at Sheffield United in October. AFP

Pep Guardiola during his team's Premier League victory over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in December 2016. AFP

Pep Guardiola hugs his Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson after their Premier League win at Sheffield United in October. AFP

Pep Guardiola looks exasperated during City's Premier League draw at West Ham in October. AFP

Pep Guardiola with Real Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane ahead of their Champions League last-16 match at the Etihad in August. AFP

Pep Guardiola with his Bournemouth counterpart Eddie Howe after City's Premier League win in July. AFP

Pep Guardiola during City's Premier League victory at home to Sheffield United in December 2019. AFP

Pep Guardiola celebrates with his backroom staff after beating Aston Villa in the 2020 League Cup final at Wembley. AFP

Pep Guardiola during City's Premier League defeat at Leicester City in December 2018. AFP

Pep Guardiola gives instructions to City's Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne during their Premier League victory over Everton in December 2018. AFP

Pep Guardiola celebrates with City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo after beating Leicester City on penalties in their League Cup quarter-final clash in December 2017. AFP

Pep Guardiola during City;s Premier League win over Bournemouth in December 2017. AFP

Pep Guardiola has ended speculation over his Manchester City future after signing a new two-year contract extension on Thursday.

Guardiola is out of contract at the end of this season but the 49-year-old has now agreed to stay at the Etihad Stadium until at least 2023.

His current five-year stay at City is the longest spell in charge of a single club since he began his managerial career in 2008. The 49-year-old managed Barcelona from 2008-12 and spent three years in charge of Germany's Bayern Munich before moving to Manchester.

He has won two Premier League titles, three League Cups and the FA Cup with City, although winning the club's first Champions League crown has proved elusive so far.

Amid upheaval at his old club Barcelona with Lionel Messi asking to leave and the president being forced to resign, Guardiola found himself linked with a return to the Camp Nou.

But he is reported to have told the City hierarchy that he was ready to agree the new deal during the recent international break.

"Ever since I arrived at Manchester City I have been made to feel so welcome in the club and in the city itself – from the players, the staff, the supporters, the people of Manchester and the chairman and owner," Guardiola said.

"Since then we have achieved a great deal together, scored goals, won games and trophies, and we are all very proud of that success.

"Having that kind of support is the best thing any manager can have. I have everything I could possibly want to do my job well and I am humbled by the confidence the owner, chairman, Ferran [Soriano] and Txiki [Begiristain] have shown in me to continue for two more years after this season.

"The challenge for us is to continue improving and evolving and I am very excited about helping Manchester City do that."

City, who travel to Tottenham on Saturday, are currently sitting in 10th in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Leicester with a game in hand.

"It is testament to the qualities of the man that Pep Guardiola's passion and intelligent approach are now woven into the very fabric of the football we play and our culture as a club," chairman Khaldoon Mubarak said.

"That impact has been central to our success during his tenure and it is why I am delighted that he shares our view that there is so much more to be achieved both on and off the field.

"Pep's contract extension is the natural next step in a journey which has evolved over many years.

"It is a product of the mutual trust and respect that exists between him and the entire club. It also goes to the stability and creativity at the heart of our football operations.

"Importantly, it is a validation of the football structure and philosophy that has been built over more than a decade and to which he has contributed so much."

City have won 181 of 245 matches in Guardiola's reign and set Premier League records en-route to winning the 2017-18 Premier League title with 100 points.

They were champions again in 2019 but finished 18 points adrift of Liverpool last season.

Advancing past the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since he took charge of City in 2016 is also a major goal for Guardiola, who last won Europe's elite club competition with Barcelona in 2011.

Guardiola may consider a move for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi in January after the Argentine, who is out of contract at the end of this term, asked to leave in frustration at the Spanish club's troubles in the close-season.