Manchester City go into the new season attempting to win a fifth consecutive Premier League title – but former goalkeeper David James admits off-field events could yet have an impact.
Pep Guardiola last term helped his side become the first ever to win four English league titles in succession, but his contract is due to expire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign and he has dropped hints that his exit could be drawing near.
Despite the club’s riches, James thinks they wouldn’t have been as successful without him.
“No, absolutely not,” he said, in the season preview issue of FourFourTwo magazine. “Last season wasn’t the best they played, but they won the league.
“Pep does it year in, year out, and their performance could get even better. He’s an intrinsic part of City – it would be very different without him. If it is his last season, other clubs might see it as their last opportunity to beat him.
“Will he make his intentions public or will there be signs the players pick up on? If you think your manager is leaving, it can affect performance, because players ask ‘Is he going? Who will be the next manager?’”
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Manchester City also have another uncertainty ahead – their Premier League hearing for 115 alleged breaches of financial rules could take place this autumn, with a potential verdict by the summer. The club steadfastly deny the charges, so it’s unclear whether they’ll be hit with sanctions, or if they would even affect the 2024-25 season.
James knows what it’s like to have a potential points deduction on the horizon, having been part of a Portsmouth side that were docked nine Premier League points in 2010. “We went into administration,” he says. “This is different because City have so much money, but job security is still an issue because people have talked about all sorts of potential sanctions, including the club possibly dropping down divisions.
“If you’re one of the top players at City, are you worried about not being in the Premier League next season? Is that going to impact form? It would engage agents to get their players out, I suppose. They’re human, they have families and football isn’t a long career.
“But a lot of those players love City, and at the moment, it’s only speculation what will happen. They’re charges, so they haven’t been found guilty.”
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