Pep Guardiola contract countdown raises significant Man City transfer question

As we enter July, we are officially into the final year of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City contract - with no sign of an extension just yet.

Most contracts at football clubs run until June 30, so assuming Guardiola's deal until the end of the 2024/25 season follows suit, there is now under a year before the Catalan could depart.

City want him to stay, and Guardiola is open to the prospect, but he admits he is 'closer to leaving than staying' in relation to his eight-year reign, and reports say the expectation is the coming season will be his last.

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One complication comes in the form of the FIFA Club World Cup, which will be well underway this time next year. Starting in mid-June, City will expect to be involved until the latter stages into mid-July, so Guardiola's deal will have to be amended around the tournament if this season is indeed the final one of his glittering era.

Of course, Guardiola could still opt to extend. He met Sheikh Mansour last month and held talks with the owner, and has signed his last two extensions following mid-season trips to Abu Dhabi to see the owner. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said this month that “Pep has always been fully committed to this club, fully committed to every contract that he has signed with us".

He continued: "This decision on his future is always a decision that we will take together, and I have no doubt that we will find, as always, we have done, the right solution that works for Pep and works for us."

As it stands, City will have to start planning for life without Guardiola, and that will involve the make-up of the squad as well