Watch: Barcelona kid scores incredible individual effort vs. Dortmund

Watch: Barcelona kid scores incredible individual effort vs. Dortmund

Manchester City’s billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan wants Pep Guardiola in charge of the club a “long time,” but the Spanish manager understands it’s his on-pitch results that do the talking.

The ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich handler’s first season in England has been very much a transitional period, with youngsters acquired and some senior players relinquishing their hold on the starting lineup, but the boss’ popularity with the fans and pedigree indicate a longer stay than his three-year contract would be preferable for City.

Reports in January suggested this could be a possibility, with Guardiola believed to be acclimatising to Lancashire life quickly in his apartment in the centre of Manchester; and now it appears that he’s appeasing the club’s brass in Abu Dhabi.

Related – Report: Guardiola considering 5-year Manchester City stay

“He would like that I stay here for a long, long, long, long time. But of course it depends on the results,” Guardiola told Reuters of his meeting with Sheikh Mansour during last week’s warm-weather training in the United Arab Emirates.

“If not, they would say: What happened? What can we do? What do we need to improve? That’s the process. To finish the process, they are going to help us.”

Although the explosive early-season form abated, City is still pursuing three pieces of silverware – although Chelsea is briskly striding away atop the Premier League. Guardiola’s lot plays Huddersfield Town in a FA Cup fifth-round replay on Wednesday, and has a 5-3 aggregate advantage before March 15’s Champions League last-16 second leg bout at AS Monaco.

In the meantime, Guardiola states that City’s current ambitions are viewed on a game-by-game basis.

“We didn’t speak about targets. They will be happy if we win. I know we have to win but I’ve handled that in the past and I will in the present.”

Following the visit from Huddersfield in the FA Cup, City travels to bottom-placed Sunderland in Sunday’s Premier League outings.

Jerome Valcke is challenging his 10-year ban from any football-related activity with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a media release confirmed on Tuesday.

Valcke is appealing for CAS to have “the challenged decision set aside in order for the sanction imposed on him to be lifted definitively.”

The former FIFA general secretary, a right-hand man of the disgraced ex-president Sepp Blatter for eight years, was hit with a 12-year suspension on June 24, 2016, but had it reduced by two years 11 days later. The punishment relates to the sale of World Cup tickets for personal profit, travelling privately at FIFA’s expense, attempting to take a cut from television rights deals, and destruction of evidence condemning his corrupt behaviour.

Related – FIFA: Blatter, Valcke, Kattner awarded themselves $80M in 5 years

Valcke, 56, has protested his innocence since being under investigation following the infamous Baur au Lac hotel raid in Zurich, Switzerland in May 2015.

Blatter’s attempt to overturn his six-year ban was rejected by CAS in December.

Carlo Ancelotti welcomed Hamburg to the Allianz Arena for the 1,000th competitive match of his managerial career on Saturday.

The Italian, famed for his cup-winning exploits and wandering eyebrow, took over Bayern Munich in the summer after previous stints in charge of Reggiana, Parma, Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid.

The celebration had its first firecrackers when Arturo Vidal wellied in an effort from 18 yards out just 17 minutes into the meeting, and Robert Lewandowski followed this by converting a spot kick seven minutes later.

Related: Look: Ancelotti given giant pretzel for landmark game

Bayern took the field with a five-point advantage over second-placed RB Leipzig, and is still on the hunt for the Champions League crown with a 5-1 aggregate lead over Arsenal in their Round of 16 first leg.

Ancelotti followed up a glittering playing career by first assuming the technical area for northeast Italian outfit Reggiana. The 57-year-old has gone on to collect silverware across five different countries, including three Champions League titles.

It’s taking the top prize in European football that he’s been brought to Bavaria for, after his predecessor Pep Guardiola wasn’t able to deliver that during his three-year tenure.