Guardiola says he would leave Manchester City if club hierarchy lied to him

Pep Guardiola says he would quit Manchester City if he felt the club’s hierarchy ever lied to him. The Spaniard has always backed his bosses publicly and put his faith in them, even when the club was given a two-year ban from European competitions by Uefa for alleged financial fair play breaches, a suspension that was eventually overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

“Why did I defend the club and the people? It’s because I work with them,” Guardiola said. “When they are accused of something I ask them: ‘Tell me about that’. They explain and I believe them. I said to them: ‘If you lie to me, the day after I am not here’. I will be out and I will not be your friend anymore.

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“I put my faith in you because I believe you 100% from day one and I defend the club because of that. When you put something here [sponsor] it’s overpaid, but other [clubs] the money comes from the USA but the money is correct, even if it’s higher. We have to deal with that, we have to fight with that. As always I am a big fan to support this organisation, no doubt.”

He added: “It’s a situation in 2012 or 2013, I was still in Barcelona, most of the people running that are not here now, but of course I would not like it. What I like is to represent a club who do things properly [and] well. It’s not about winning the Champions League and the Premier League, we want to do well for our people and our fans.”

City are looking to pick themselves up after their dramatic European exit in midweek against Real Madrid in the game against Newcastle . A win at the Etihad on Sunday would take Guardiola one step closer to winning his fourth Premier League title in six