Pep to make surprise Man City return as £500,000-per-week wage guarantee revealed
With Manchester City’s crisis continuing to develop, former manager Pep Guardiola is reportedly planning to return to the club, while a report into the wages of the players has drawn a staggering conclusion.
Man City is a club in turmoil after being found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, and while the ownership of the club have come out fighting by pleading their innocence, there is a very real prospect of unprecedented sanctions being placed against the Abu Dhabi-owned outfit.
In response to this, Guardiola is set to make a stunning return to the club in order to show his support.
Guardiola, who stepped down from his position as manager in the summer, is planning to return for City’s next home game, which is against PSG in the Champions League on 14 October, according to the Daily Express.
The Catalan is said to have held talks with senior figures at the club, telling them that he would like “to be with his people”.
Guardiola has been a stoic defender of City, even claiming in November 2024 that he would remain with the club if they were found guilty of the charges and were demoted.
In quotes relayed by BBC Sport, he said: “I said when all the clubs accused us of doing something wrong and people say 'what happens if we are relegated?' I will be here.
“I don't know the position they are going to bring us, the Conference? [But] next year we will come up and come up and come back to the Premier League.
“Seventy-five per cent of the clubs want it, because I know what they do behind the scenes and this sort of stuff. But I don't live with it.”
City wages are ‘fully guaranteed’
Should Man City ultimately be punished by relegation and exodus of leading stars has been widely forecast, yet BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel has revealed that key players like Erling Haaland would be due their full wages.
“The vast majority of players do not have relegation release clauses in their contracts,” he says. “That means that City will have a firm grip on the futures of their top stars.
“But it is also our understanding that the wages of City players are fully guaranteed. That means they do not have to take relegation pay cuts if they lose their Premier League status. And that raises question marks over whether City can afford to pay those big-level wages without Premier League money.”
This means that Haaland would be due his £500,000-per-week wages even in League Two.
Mokbel adds that simply departing is also likely to cost stars: “Those that leave City will also be hit in the pocket. City are one of the biggest payers in European football, so finding a club to pay that level of money if they decided to leave will be an extremely difficult task.
“But all in all, the future of Manchester City players is firmly up in the air.”
