Pep Guardiola has implied that Aleksander Ceferin should exercise better judgement when making comments about Manchester City, especially after the UEFA president supported the initial ban imposed on the club from European competition in 2020.
The ban, related to what UEFA termed as “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play regulations, was imposed in February 2020 but later overturned in June 2020 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ceferin, a former lawyer, maintains his belief in UEFA’s decision, expressing it in an interview with The Telegraph. These remarks coincide with City facing accusations from the Premier League regarding a potential breach of their own financial rules.
“As a lawyer that he is and president of UEFA, he should wait and after do whatever he wants,” said Guardiola when asked about Ceferin’s comments.
“He has to respect it and he has to wait. He has a lot of jobs to do at UEFA. A lawyer should respect the procedure and understand we have a right to defend ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola says he hopes Kalvin Phillips will get the game time “he deserves” at West Ham as his loan move to the London Stadium edges close.
Phillips is set to move until the end of the season after being restricted to just two Premier League starts in 18 months at City.
“The club tells me it’s still not done but he travelled [to London] to make a medical test, but it is not completely done,” Guardiola said. “It is going to be a loan for six months and hopefully he can play the minutes he deserves, which I couldn’t give to him.
“I wish him [well]. I said many times, an exceptional human being and a football player; otherwise, he wouldn’t be on the national team. Hopefully he can improve what it is.”
Guardiola is set to be without Erling Haaland for City’s trip to Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday but John Stones is in line to return.
“He [Haaland] is on the verge of coming back,” said Guardiola. “Tomorrow [against Tottenham], he is not ready but he is close. Training camp was good; he trained some sessions; the last few days there he trained, but it is not perfect and we will wait a little bit more.”