New team, job offers, legacy - why Pep Guardiola is staying at Man City

Ferran Soriano spent his Tuesday night sat in the dark, and that is how Pep Guardiola has kept the football world over his future.

Manchester City's CEO and his fellow executives may not have liked the uncertainty of allowing their manager - the best in the world at what he does, as the documentary Soriano was watching showed as news broke of Guardiola's decision - to run down his contract but the reward was worth the risk. Once again, patience and perseverance have been rewarded with City keeping their manager into a tenth and possibly 11th year.

The expectation at the end of last season, both from people at the club who would know and from those who knew Guardiola, was that he would leave the club in 2025. He had broken new ground in the Premier League, claimed the club's first Champions League, and after eight years of going every single day he was understandably shattered.

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Succession plans were considered and evaluated again, but the number one target was always to keep Guardiola. As late as October, there was still no certainty for Ruben Amorim that he could follow Hugo Viana in summer and the talented Sporting coach opted for United instead.

October was also a significant month for the City manager because the FA decided to hire Thomas Tuchel as Gareth Southgate's permanent successor. Guardiola had been approached about the job in the summer following Southgate's resignation yet could not wait forever for a decision.

It is hard to think of a more tempting job for a top manager with aspirations of managing a national team than the England squad, particularly