Run of defeats, ageing players and off-field problems have not deterred manager from opting to complete a decade at club

Pep Guardiola’s signing of a new one-year deal at Manchester City’s manager shows the eye of the tiger with this son of Catalonia. For Apollo Creed’s line to Rocky Balboa in Rocky III that “you had that eye of the tiger, the edge, and now you gotta get it back”, read Guardiola’s desire to see off the copious challenges gnawing at his team and club and prove, again, his genius.

The reasons why he could have chosen to walk next summer may be the same that have replenished his will to stay. Either way, the 53-year-old’s decision comes at an intriguing juncture of an era‑defining eight-and-a-half-year reign.