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A rather enigmatic person who rarely give much away outside of press conferences, the rare insights we, as football fans, get regarding Pep Guardiola tend to come from Martí Perarnau, the manager’s great friend and biographer.

With two books already published about the 46-year-old, the former Olympic high jumper is now taking a bit of a break, and spoke to Le Journal Du Dimanche over the weekend ahead of Manchester City’s clash in the Champions League against Monaco.

Wanting to know a bit more about Guardiola, the newspaper asked Perarnau about the Spaniard’s difficult beginnings in the Premier League, with the Citizens quite some way behind Premier League rookie Antonio Conte and his Chelsea side after 25 games.

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He said: “Pep knew he wouldn’t win straight away. In fact, he isn’t expecting to see the first fruits of his labour until 2018”.

While this may frustrate Manchester City fans, who have been used to see their team challenge and win trophies in recent times, Perarnau also seems to think Guardiola is very likely to continue at the Etihad beyond his three-year contract.

With so much time ahead of him, the journalist knows he will have plenty of time to get his third book about Guardiola’s time at Manchester City, and has only recently returned to the city of Manchester, giving Pep time to adapt to his new surrounding without constantly breathing down his neck.