Barcelona’s sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has confirmed it: Pep Guardiola will officially extend his contract as Barca's coach on February 22. Only 1 year will be added to his current deal.
The official time for the contract extension has been set to 13:30 CET. According to Zubizarreta, finding a peaceful period to tackle this issue was the reason behind the February 22 date.
Two days before, Barcelona will be playing Athletic Bilbao in La Liga and their following match is set to take place 5 days later. Speaking to Barca’s official club website, the sporting director declared:
“We have spoken with Pep and we believe that it will be a quiet week and so it also fits in with president Rosell’s schedule. For Guardiola and for us, it has always been important to sit down and talk calmly and reflect on things.
“It’s not always a bidding war or a matter of numbers – this week gave us the time to sit and talk. We knew that Pep wanted to stay, because he’s always said that.
“We are aware of his value as a coach as much as we are aware of what he brings to us as a club. Both Guardiola and we know our roles and the limits of those roles.
“I would say that this wasn’t a hard, a difficult or complicated negotiation. But, it was not easy or simple either.
“It is our way of doing things that has worked for the club and for Guardiola too. It’s not the normal, or traditional way of doing things in football – but it has given us great results because of who is he and who we are.”
Pep Guardiola has managed over 150 games as a Barcelona coach and his winning statistic nears 74% as records keep improving season by season. As a player, Guardiola won 6 La Liga titles, 4 Spanish Super Cup trophies and 1 Champions League title among other collective honours.
Since replacing Frank Rijkaard in 2008, the impressive coach has successfully led Barcelona to cup glory 8 times in all competitions. Presently, the Catalans look well on course to retaining their La Liga title being 7 points above Real Madrid. This weekend, Guardiola will guide Barca away to Sporting Gijon with the mission of picking up 3 more points.
Two days before, Barcelona will be playing Athletic Bilbao in La Liga and their following match is set to take place 5 days later. Speaking to Barca’s official club website, the sporting director declared:
“We have spoken with Pep and we believe that it will be a quiet week and so it also fits in with president Rosell’s schedule. For Guardiola and for us, it has always been important to sit down and talk calmly and reflect on things.
“It’s not always a bidding war or a matter of numbers – this week gave us the time to sit and talk. We knew that Pep wanted to stay, because he’s always said that.
“We are aware of his value as a coach as much as we are aware of what he brings to us as a club. Both Guardiola and we know our roles and the limits of those roles.
“I would say that this wasn’t a hard, a difficult or complicated negotiation. But, it was not easy or simple either.
“It is our way of doing things that has worked for the club and for Guardiola too. It’s not the normal, or traditional way of doing things in football – but it has given us great results because of who is he and who we are.”
Pep Guardiola has managed over 150 games as a Barcelona coach and his winning statistic nears 74% as records keep improving season by season. As a player, Guardiola won 6 La Liga titles, 4 Spanish Super Cup trophies and 1 Champions League title among other collective honours.
Since replacing Frank Rijkaard in 2008, the impressive coach has successfully led Barcelona to cup glory 8 times in all competitions. Presently, the Catalans look well on course to retaining their La Liga title being 7 points above Real Madrid. This weekend, Guardiola will guide Barca away to Sporting Gijon with the mission of picking up 3 more points.
