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Noel Gallagher responds to Pep Guardiola future question and reveals text from ‘fired up’ Man City boss ahead of Arsenal clash
Noel Gallagher is hopeful Pep Guardiola will see out his contract as Manchester City manager.
However, the Oasis superstar has not gone as far as asking him about his future despite the pair exchanging text messages.
Guardiola’s current City deal runs until the end of next season, which would be his 11th at the Etihad Stadium.
There are doubts surrounding his future beyond the end of the current campaign, though, as City chase a domestic treble.
Having already won the Carabao Cup, his side are into the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s 3-0 win over Chelsea has put the Premier League title race in City’s hands.
They sit six points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand as well as a home meeting with the Gunners this weekend.
Guardiola ‘fired up’ for title race
Gallagher has now revealed Guardiola is ‘fired up’ for the run-in as he eyes a seventh Premier League title.
The musician lifted the lid on his texts with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss as he joined Drive on Monday night.
Discussing City’s latest win with Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent, Gallagher revealed he received a text from the manager after the win over Chelsea.
He explained: “He texted me after the game and he is bang on. He’s fired up. Properly, properly fired up.”
Asked if he ever speaks to Guardiola before matches, Gallagher said: “No, no, I have done it once or twice.
“We can sense it now. It’s crazy to think that we’ve got ten games, potentially ten games left in all competitions, if we win all ten, we’ll have done a domestic treble.
“And nobody was even talking about that two weeks ago, that’s insane.”
The discussion later turned to Guardiola’s City future, but Gallagher says the pair have not spoken about the subject.
When asked if they had, he added: “No, I wouldn’t be so rude.
“But, I will say that sometimes you see him on TV and you think, ‘well, he’s done ten years,’ and another time you see him and you think, ‘well, he’s openly talking about rebuilding the team.’
“So none of us know. He’s a great poker player, I’ll give him that.”
Prince Naseem Hamed of football
Rayan Cherki has been one of many standout performers for City so far this season.
The French playmaker joined the club from Lyon last summer ahead of their Club World Cup campaign.
His debut Premier League season has already produced three goals and ten assists in 26 appearances, including two assists against Chelsea.
Gallagher has now compared Cherki to a former world champion boxer, stating: “It’s his first season, he’s only going to get better and better and better.
“He’s pretty good already, but this time next season, he could be a world superstar. He’s just great to watch, he takes the mickey a little bit.
“He winds opposition fans up, and opposition players, and that’s a good thing, I think. He’s the kind of footballer that’ll get kids into football.
“He’s like the Prince Naseem Hamed of football. He’s a show-off and he doesn’t care. He’s cheeky, he winds people up. We love him.”
Bold title prediction
Whilst City’s potential title triumph this season would be somewhat unexpected given Arsenal’s lead in the title race, Gallagher expects a different outcome next season.
The 58-year-old believes his beloved club will ‘walk the league’ next term, as he explained: “I’d be getting told off by the manager because I didn’t think we could, I didn’t think we could win a trophy this season. So I’d be getting a rollicking off him, another one.
“I think we’ll walk it next season. I genuinely think there will be a procession next season. So this would just be the most massive bonus.
“I’d love Bernardo Silva to pick up that trophy because he’s been such a brilliant player for us. If he ends up picking up three trophies on his way out of the door, that would be just the most romantic way to say goodbye.”
Could Mikel Arteta succeed Guardiola?
Prior to becoming Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta spent over three years as one of Guardiola’s assistants at City.
His compatriot could prove to be one of the candidates in the running to replace him when he leaves the Etihad Stadium.
Gallagher has admitted he is not against the prospect of Arteta becoming City boss in the future.
He added: “Look, the people who run our club, they’ve barely put a foot wrong. So, we go with it. We’ve got better players.
“When Arteta joined Arsenal, Pep was ridiculed a little but because he said, ‘I’m sure eventually he’s going to be successful.’
“Now, Arteta’s knocking on the door. He’s properly knocking on the door here and if he gets Arsenal over the line, another one will come fairly quickly because the first one is the most difficult.
“Once City won that first league, we won another a couple of years later and then Pep came, there was an avalanche of them.
“The thing about the perception of Arteta is it’s coloured by Arsenal fans’ neurotic behaviour towards him. He wins one game and he’s a genius. Something comes out about a training session and they’re all over him.
“They’ve lost three games all season across Europe as well. They’re there, they are there. Whether City will now bully it out of them remains to be seen. But don’t be surprised if Arsenal go on and win it from here.”
Unlikely heroes
City’s resurgence in the title race has partly been down to Arsenal dropping points, most recently during their defeat to Bournemouth.
However, the Manchester side have also appeared to rekindle their own sparkling form from previous seasons in recent weeks.
Gallagher believes this is in part down to their current centre-back pairing of Marc Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov.
Asked if Rodri’s return to fitness has been the key, he said: “There’s that, he’s getting back to his best. He’s not there yet, he’s getting back to his best.
“But we’ve stumbled upon Marc Guehi and Khusanov. Marc Guehi’s goal yesterday [against Chelsea] was outrageous, how he finished that was like a centre-forward.
“He just seems so calm, he doesn’t panic. Khusanov is a beast. I just think we’re defending really, really well.
“That was a big clean sheet yesterday and I think that breeds confidence.”
Guehi and Khusanov have started five Premier League matches alongside each other since the former joined City in January.
Meanwhile, City are unbeaten in the eight league outings in which they have played together, keeping three clean sheets in the process.
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