Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes his team doesn’t deserve a bonus for winning the Club World Cup, citing their disappointing 2024-25 campaign.
City, who qualified for the tournament by winning the 2023-24 Premier League title, are in line to receive a significant share of the £97m prize money if they emerge victorious. However, Guardiola feels that their early Champions League exit and current fifth-place standing in the Premier League mean they don’t merit any additional rewards.
“We don’t deserve a bonus this season,” Guardiola said. “The bonus, if you win, I don’t know how much, it’s for the club. The managers, the backroom staff, the players, we don’t deserve – not even a watch.”
City’s Club World Cup campaign begins on June 18 against Moroccan side Wydad in Philadelphia. They have also been drawn against Al Ain from Abu Dhabi and Italy’s Juventus in the group stage.
The Premier League has announced that top-flight clubs can take advantage of an initial transfer window from June 1-10, allowing them to add players to their squad for the knockout phase. This has raised uncertainty over the involvement of Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, whose City contracts expire on June 30.
