Pep Guardiola Says Manchester City, De Bruyne Are Working on New Long-Term Contract
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has discussed a potential new contract for playmaker Kevin de Bruyne - the former Barcelona coach admitting that he wants the Belgian to stick around for 'as long as possible'.
De Bruyne's season has begun spectacularly. Playing slightly deeper under Guardiola this season than he did last, the 26-year-old has flourished - picking up huge amounts of praise along the way.
His role within the side is becoming more and more important and it appears Guardiola is keen to tie de Bruyne down to a new contract as soon as he can:
Speaking in City's pre-match press conference ahead of their Champions League encounter against Shakhtar Donetsk, Pep also gave a quick injury update on his team - including some positive news in regards to Ilkay Gundogan.
"We are going to test and see if Benjamin Mendy is able to play." Guardiola said, according to City's official Twitter account.
"Ilkay Gundogan yesterday trained for part. He just played with the ball. Vincent Kompany is not ready for tomorrow.
He then took the time to talk about City's upcoming opponents, admitting that they amaze Guardiola every time he faces the Ukrainian outfit.
"Every time I play Shakhtar, I have the same feeling. When I faced them first time my team went to see them and came back and said ‘wow’. Against Monaco, in 180 minutes we are out because we played bad for 45 minutes. Shakhtar deserve all my credit."
City's Champions League opener came as a 4-0 away win over Dutch outfit Feyenoord, and the Citizens will be hoping for more of the same come Tuesday night.
