Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said yesterday that Jurgen Klopp’s decision to extend his stay at Liverpool will not have any influence on his own future plans. Klopp signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday to keep the Reds boss at Anfield until at least 2026.
Guardiola’s current City deal expires at the end of next season and he has yet to commit to prolonging his spell with the Premier League champions. It remains to be seen whether Guardiola will stick around to maintain his duel with Klopp, with City and Liverpool embroiled in another tense Premier League title race this term. The Spaniard insisted his only focus at present was City’s crucial trip to Leeds today as the leaders try to maintain their one-point advantage over second-placed Liverpool. “Congratulations to Jurgen and Liverpool,” Guardiola told reporters. “I think it’s really good for the Premier League. I wish him all the best for the future. My future is Leeds, our future is Leeds and then the end of the season.”
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was voted the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year yesterday. The Egyptian, who has scored 30 goals in all competitions for Klopp’s quadruple chasing team this season, beat City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne into second place.
Guardiola offered congratulations to Salah, but laced the compliment with what might be perceived as a back-handed swipe at Klopp. “Congratulations to Salah. Jurgen said they have the best keeper, the second-best keeper in the world, the best central defender, the best holding midfielder, the best striker. So it’s normal they win all the awards,” he said.
Guardiola added England right-back Kyle Walker might not play again in the current campaign. Walker has missed City’s last four games with an ankle injury suffered against Atletico Madrid.

Klopp unsure if his own Liverpool deal will persuade Salah to stay
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he does not believe his new deal will be the deciding factor in whether star forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane commit their long-term futures to the club. Salah and Mane, along with fellow attacker Roberto Firmino and midfielder Naby Keita, have contracts that expire next year.
With Klopp now staying until 2026, there is a greater degree of security at the club, but the German is not convinced that will make a huge difference to individual players’ decisions. “If it is a positive sign for the boys, great, but I don’t think this will be the one decisive thing for whatever decision they want to make,” he said. “It is their own life but we just wanted to guarantee that everyone who wants to be here knows what he can expect.”
Egypt international Salah, whose negotiations have dragged on for several months, admitted last week it was not certain he would remain at Anfield, stressing the decision was not just about the money.
The battle to join City, Liverpool and Chelsea in next season’s Champions League looks like a shootout between north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham. Arsenal have a two-point advantage and both sides will be confident of victory this weekend against opposition with European semi-finals on their mind.
The Gunners travel to West Ham, who trail Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 after the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.
Tottenham host Leicester, who have it all to play for next week in the last four of their Europa Conference League tie after a 1-1 draw with Roma in Thursday’s first leg.

Fixtures (all times GMT)
Today: Newcastle v Liverpool (1130), Southampton v Crystal Palace, Aston Villa v Norwich, Wolves v Brighton, Watford v Burnley (all 1400), Leeds v
Manchester City (1630)
Tomorrow: Everton v Chelsea, Tottenham v Leicester (both 1300), West Ham v Arsenal (1530)
Monday: Manchester United v Brentford (1900)