Guardiola tells Man City they must sign one player ‘if he is to consider renewing’

Pep Guardiola has told Man City that they must try and sign Bayern Munich attacker Jamal Musiala if they want him to sign a new contract, according to reports.

The Citizens have made a good start to the new Premier League season with Guardiola’s side winning five and drawing two of their opening seven Premier League matches.

Man City are in second place, level on points with Arsenal and one point behind leaders Liverpool as they prepare to face Wolves on Sunday.

They have done well considering the number of off-field issues the club is currently dealing with, including the future of Guardiola.

Man City are currently facing an independent hearing over their 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial fair play rules.

One of, if not their best player, Rodri is out for the rest of the season and there are rumours that some of their top stars could also leave if Guardiola departs.

The Catalan manager’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign but there have been some reports claiming Man City are ‘confident’ of tying him down to a new deal.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently commented: “The feeling inside City is that they are confident of keeping Guardiola at least for one more season – the final approval, the final decision will be from Pep himself, but my information remains that the change in director doesn’t mean that the manager will also be leaving.

“Guardiola is taking his time to decide at this important point in City’s project, but the club are confident and optimistic about keeping their manager, with [Txiki] Begiristain’s future not changing that.”

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And now reports in Spain claim that Guardiola ‘has made it clear to Manchester City that if he is to consider renewing his contract beyond 2025, he wants a top signing to strengthen his squad’.

It is understood that the name ‘he has put on the table is none other than Jamal Musiala’ who has three goals and two assists in seven outings in all competitions this season.

The Man City boss is ‘keen to have the young winger, and believes his signing could be key to keeping City competing at the top for years to come’.

Man City are believed to be ‘working hard to secure Guardiola ‘s continuity’ but ‘Pep has made it clear that, in order to commit to the club for the long term, he needs reinforcements to keep him at the highest level. And on his wish list, Musiala is a top priority.’

The problem facing the Citizens is that the Germany international ‘will not be easy or cheap’ and a deal with Bayern Munich is ‘expected to easily exceed €100m’.

But Man City ‘will do everything they can to meet their manager’s demands, especially given that Musiala’s impact on the team could be immediate’.