Arne Slot has welcomed news of Pep Guardiola’s contract extension hailing the Manchester City boss as ‘maybe the best manager in the league’, writes Amelia Russell at the AXA Training Centre.
The Spaniard’s contract was due to expire at the end of the season, but this week he put pen to paper on a new deal to keep him at City for another two years.
Guardiola has won 18 trophies in almost nine years at the Etihad, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League, establishing themselves as Liverpool’s main domestic rival during that time.
Slot praised the news saying it’s not only good for City but the Premier League also.
He said: “Everybody wants to have the best managers possible over here and he’s definitely one of the best managers, maybe the best manager in the league.
“If you look at what he did in the last few years, four times champions in a row, it’s fair to say he may be the best manager in the league.”
Manchester City are currently second in the Premier league table, five points behind league leaders Liverpool, who take a trip to bottom placed Southampton on Sunday.
Southampton have amassed just four points this season after being promoted from the Championship. However, Slot praised Russell Martin’s side, despite their league position.
He said: “They are bottom of the league at the moment, but they don’t play like this. They make it very difficult for the top teams.
“Their playing style is very intriguing, and it was a joy to watch their games as they have a very interesting and nice way of playing.”
Sunday’s game comes after the third international break of the Premier League season so far, which saw several players withdrawing from their UEFA Nation’s League fixtures.
Trent Alexander-Arnold pulled out of England duty after scans showed a low-grade hamstring injury from the Red’s 2-0 win against Aston Villa.
Virgil Van Dijk returned to Kirkby on Monday; missing Holland’s final Nations League game due to medical complaints after playing in their 4-0 victory against Hungary.
Slot confirmed Van Dijk is in contention for Sunday but Alexander-Arnold is yet to return to training. Meanwhile goalkeeper Allison Becker who has been out for over six weeks with a hamstring injury, has also returned to training.
Said Slot: “Virgil is all good, he’s training with us today. Trent isn’t back training with us yet, but he is getting there so we expect him to be back with us soon.
“Allison’s back in training with the goalkeeper coach, he’s not training with the team yet but that is expected to be done soon.”
Southampton vs Liverpool is at 2pm on Sunday.
