"Believe me!" - Noel Gallagher drops exciting hint on Pep Guardiola's Man City future

Noel Gallagher believes Pep Guardiola's love for Manchester City and his relentless nature could persuade him to sign an extension at the Etihad past next summer.

City fan and former Oasis frontman Gallagher has a personal line to Guardiola, exchanging texts, calls and even voicenotes with the Blues boss throughout the season. With Guardiola's contract expiring next summer, and no guarantee he will extend his reign into a tenth season, fans are clinging onto anything they can that may indicate a new deal is in the pipeline.

While Gallagher doesn't have any inside information on an extension, he has said that he believes Guardiola still has the hunger and desire to go on past next summer.

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Speaking to the Athletic, Gallagher said: “I speak to him quite a bit and he’s never given me any inkling that he’s not 1,000 per cent happy living in Manchester. I can play you messages where you’d go, ‘That doesn’t sound like anyone is retiring from football soon’. He sends me texts and leaves voice notes about how much he loves the club. He’s one of us, believe me.”

Guardiola's love for City is something that could persuade him to stay another year or two, and Gallagher says the manager's competitive nature also restricts the options available to him. Guardiola reiterated his stance this week that he would not return to boyhood club Barcelona as manager.

“A good 50 per cent of me thinks he’s going to stay, though. Because where’s he going to go?" Gallagher asked. "He won’t retire, as he’s younger than me. He won’t go to Italy, as there’s no money in it. He’s already done Germany. He’s not going back to Barcelona. America? Maybe. But he’s a competitor, a warrior, he’s an inspiring dude.

“When he goes, the Premier League will breathe a sigh of relief. But it will also be good for City to think, ‘OK that was our golden era, what are we made of now? Can we get it right?’. By the time he leaves, all the [Premier League] charges will be done. And then it will be a big reset.

“So many football fans are desperate for him to leave because they have got it into their heads that no one is going to win anything until he does. It’s great. He just lives in everybody’s heads.”