Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 8y

Manuel Pellegrini would rather have Prem title than new Man City contract

MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini declared he would rather win the title and be sacked this summer than win nothing and be given a five-year contract as the prospect of Pep Guardiola taking over at Manchester City grew a step closer.

Former Barcelona manager Guardiola said he did not look for a new contract with Bayern Munich because he wants to work in the Premier League.

And City, whose chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain know Guardiola well from their time together at the Camp Nou, are the favourites to recruit the double Champions League winner.

Pellegrini has a contract until 2017 and, after winning the Premier League and the Capital One Cup in his first season with City, has a semifinal first leg against Everton on Wednesday.

And his priority is to secure silverware, with the Chilean saying in a news conference: "For me, as a manager, it's important to win the title because it's my job.

"You ask me personally, my way of thinking is that if I have the option to renew here for five years more or to win the title and be sacked, I'd prefer to win the title. For a manager, your work is to win the title, so the other doesn't matter."

The Chilean accepted that managers can lose their jobs despite bringing in trophies, adding: "If you are the owner of a club, you must have the option to replace the manager if they win the title or if they don't win the title. It just is about your trust in the way you work.

"That is more important than if you win a title or not for the owners. That's why we are just talking about Real Madrid always changing if you don't win a title. I don't think that's the best way.

"On the other side, you can win a title, and of course the owner can not be happy with your work and they have the right to change. But as managers, the most important thing is to win."

City are still on course for a quadruple of the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup.

But Pellegrini admitted it is impossible to win all four trophies in the same season because of the crowded fixture list, explaining: "I am worried about the FA Cup, after the first rounds you start having to postpone your Premier League games to continue in the FA Cup.

"I am not sure if you can continue in all the competitions. I think if you play the semifinal of the FA Cup and you are in semifinal of the Champions League, then you don't have time to play one of the games. You don't have any free midweeks because you play Wednesday, then FA Cup, then game No. 37 of the Premier League, then the other semifinal of the Champions League, then game 38 of the Premier League.

"You don't have time to rearrange game 36. It's difficult to arrive at the semifinal of the Champions League and also the FA Cup.

"It is impossible because you have one game postponed, game No. 36, and there is no midweek to play it before you finish the Premier League."

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