Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Man City chairman discusses Pep Guardiola exit, new manager review and summer transfer window plans | Football news

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has given an update on the club’s search for a new coach following Pep Guardiola’s exit.

It promises to be a summer of change at City after Guardiola stepped down as head coach after 10 years.

The city is working to import Enzo Maresca as Guardiola’s replacement and is in talks with former Italian club Chelsea over compensation.

Speaking about the appointment of a new manager, Al Mubarak said: “I think what I can say at the moment is that we have gone through a very well thought out and structured process and the team is confident – and I am sure, I am sure – that we will bring in the right manager for this club.

“Just bear with us. We will announce it soon and you will be very relieved that we have chosen and brought in the best manager for this team.”

‘We know what we want’ – City boss on summer transfer

Al Mubarak also gave an update on City’s transfer window which will see the club face a period of major change.

John Stones again Bernardo Silva are among the senior players tipped to leave the club on a free transfer – and City have seen the first bid for the Nottingham Forest midfielder. Elliot Anderson rejected. Negotiations are ongoing and the City is considering its next application.

Anderson is currently in the England national team in their World Cup camp and City’s chairman says the summer tournament will not add problems to the club’s summer window.

“No, I don’t think it makes it too difficult,” Al Mubarak said. “I think it’s part of the game, it’s part of the business. We know how to deal with it, Hugo (Viana, director of football) knows how to deal with it.

“We know what we want, we know what we need and we know how to do it.

“Don’t forget that in January we made two very important signings, very important signings. Big credit to Hugo for being able to identify the needs and move forward with two top talents, Marc Guéhi and Antoine Semenyo – really top, top. So we’re very happy about their joining in January.

“These two would have been two normal summer moves, given the size of the transfer fees and the importance of the players.

“And as we have always shown, and I think this is important for us to always know this club, we are organized, we think carefully and sometimes when we need to decide and take the first step, we will do that and that is exactly what we did in these two cases.

“I think in the summer, we know exactly what we want to do, we know exactly who we mean and I promise you, as always, we will run our business and work well, as fast as possible.”

‘Pep quit Man City 100 times’

Al Mubarak admitted that Guardiola almost quit as City manager “100 times in 10 years”, times when the chairman had to “convince” him to return to the job.

He also said that Guardiola never thought of being at City for more than four or five years.

“Over the years we have become good friends,” said Al Mubarak. “And I will say, and I don’t know if you’ll agree, but I consider myself his psychiatrist.

“Okay, so I’ve had to help him over the years. Not in the good times – the good times are easy – it’s always the challenging part. And definitely in the last 10 years we’ve had a lot of ups and some downs.

“And on the downs, he must have quit 100 times in those 10 years, just so you know, to put it down. There’s a story as you all know, the boy who cried wolf.

“In Pep’s case, if he says I quit, it doesn’t mean he’s quitting.

“He didn’t think he would last more than four years, then more than five years. So, in his mind, even the fourth and fifth years were always ‘okay, how long?’

“And, you know, it always had to be done the right way. And I would say that I always had a very clear understanding with Pep, because of that analogy of the boy who cried wolf.

“Whenever he stops and whenever he thinks it’s time, I’ll always convince him to come back, until the moment when I know it’s the real time – when in fact the real moment Pep decides it’s time.

“There are moments that aren’t real and you really need someone to bring them back. And there was always going to be one moment when it was real.

“And we got to that. And I knew that’s why I didn’t fight. All these years, I’ve been fighting it and bringing him back because I knew it was the answer.

“But in this particular one, I think he knew – and I knew he knew – that’s why it was the right thing for him and it was the natural thing to do. And I’ll tell you that I didn’t fight this at all because I knew this was the moment he really meant it.”

‘The city project has not reached the top’

Guardiola will go down as one of the game’s greatest managers but City’s chairman says the club’s project “hasn’t peaked” following the exit of its manager.

“We are far from the top,” he said. “Eighteen years… I look at where the team was in 2008, and I look at all the parts of the last 18 years.

“Roberto Mancini brought this first Premier League title to this club, we will never forget those moments, it was a great moment then, the first FA Cup win in many years.

“And Manuel [Pellegrini] in came, same thing, another Premier League title and more success. Then Pep came in, and it was about finding that mindset, that DNA of a winning team.

“And now, this club is the way we all know it now. We are used to it, because our DNA – to win. This is a team designed, built to win.

“What Pep has given us has taken us to another level, and I think we are very grateful for what he helped build here.”