Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha is confident that Pep Guardiola will sign a new contract with the club.
The 51-year-old head coach has just over 12 months remaining on his current contract at the Etihad Stadium, and he recently revealed that he has no intentions of negotiating fresh terms until the summer of 2023.
Nevertheless, Onuoha – who came through City's academy and spent eight years with the senior side between 2004 and 2012 – believes that Guardiola is "very comfortable" at the club and jokes that he may unexpectedly announce a new contract in a quirky way.
Speaking to Sports Mole ahead of the release of his autobiography 'Kicking Back' on May 17, Onuoha said: "I think he will (sign a new contract), but he'll probably do it in a really Pep sort of way. It'd be non-traditional and it'd be at a really weird point.
"Maybe he'll have some sort of announcement, like notes on his phone which then get put onto social media saying 'Pep's agreed, signing a contract that is one day longer than Jurgen Klopp's' or something like that.
"But I think he will (sign a new deal) I think he's very, very comfortable here. In terms of the surroundings, the mentality of the players, mentality of the staff around him, the infrastructure. I'm sure he could do with it being a bit sunnier more often, but it seems like people are matching his ambition. If he was to leave, where else would he be able to do that?"
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With the arrival of Erling Braut Haaland this summer and the continuing rise of Phil Foden under Guardiola's tutelage, Onuoha believes City have a promising future ahead and he feels that there are no reasons why the Spanish boss would want to end his successful era at the club just yet.
"I think this is probably the best place for him. It's not to say that football won't change, but I think he'll sign and I'd like him to sign because this feels like this is Pep's Manchester City.
"When the change does come, and it's inevitable, I think that they'll be prepared for it. But it feels like it'd be too soon to draw a close to this era of Pep's Man City, because you can see that bringing in someone like Haaland, you've still got Foden at 21, turning 22 soon, you know there is still a very, very bright future available to him if he stays."
Since taking the reins at the Etihad in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has won 10 trophies as Man City manager, including three Premier League titles, four League Cups and one FA Cup.
An 11th trophy with the Citizens could be on its way for the Catalan boss this season, although their hopes of retaining the Premier League title were dealt a blow after drawing 2-2 away at West Ham United on Sunday, a result which means title rivals Liverpool could close the gap to one point with a victory at Southampton on Tuesday.
Oliver Thomas
