Man City CEO clarifies whether Pep will leave for Barcelona or not

Ferran Soriano reassures City fans

It was Ferran Soriano, who felt it was necessary to clear out the confusion caused by Pep Guardiola’s comments. Apparently, the long-time manager enticed the possibility of moving back to his former club FC Barcelona.

What did Guardiola say?

Pep in his last few press conferences has raised a lot of eyebrows. It began when he targeted his “players, staff, the whole organization” after the game against Spurs.

During the verbal attack, the Spaniard admitted that Man City was “far away, far away” from Arsenal in the title race.

It was the words Pep said before the game against the Gunners that led to the controversy. Although City won the game, it was a tough few days for the club executives before CEO Frank Soriano calmed everyone down.

Apart from that, pep had a few words of affection for his former coaching partner and now Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. Pep stated: “He [Arteta] loves the club. I remember here when we score goals he jumps a lot except one team. He was sitting there. It was Arsenal. I said that guy likes Arsenal.”

Guardiola then went on to compare his love for Barcelona to Arteta’s for Arsenal. Similar to what Arteta is for the Gunners, Pep was once a Barca captain and then went on to manage them; and the rest is history. Pep clarified that he would have never stopped Arteta from going to his favorite club. A club where he became a legend.

Pep added, “Like here if I’m training as an assistant and Barcelona calls me, I go. People have to fly when he believes is the best. To players, if they are not happy, they have to leave, life is too short.”

Ferran Soriano explains….

It was the words, ‘If Barcelona calls me, I go’ that created tension among City fans on social media. However, Soriano was quick to ensure supporters that Pep was to stay at the Etihad. He was keen to remind supporters exactly what Guardiola had said.

While talking to DAZN, Soriano clarified, “What Guardiola said is that he would go to Barcelona if he was an assistant coach at Manchester City and called by Barça, but being the first manager, for sure he won’t go to Barcelona or anywhere else in the next two and a half years [the length of his contract].”

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