Don't go now, Pep! Latest Man City project is just starting to click and Guardiola needs to see how far he can take it

Guardiola was quick to draw comparisons between Sunday's win and the 3-0 thrashing of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal in 2018. He said: "It is like 10 years ago, when we played the first Carabao Cup here against Arsenal. James [Trafford] it’s his first final, Matheus [Nunes] arrived, [Abdukodir) Khusanov is just one year here, Nico [O'Reilly] impressed me the first season, Antoine [Semenyo] it’s the first final he played."

But there were plenty of differences in the backgrounds to those two finals. In 2018, City were already well on their way to their first Premier League title together and a record 100 points, while Arsenal were in the dying embers of the Arsene Wenger era. When the sides met again five days later in the Premier League, swathes of empty seats could be seen at the Emirates Stadium, where fan sentiment was at its most toxic.

Now, Arsenal look to be on their way to winning the league, with a nine-point lead over City albeit having played one game more, and in a strong position to reach the Champions League quarter-finals in addition to being in the last eight of the FA Cup.

City, so went the narrative, appeared to be approaching the end of the Guardiola era and in the five games leading up to this final they had drawn with Nottingham Forest and West Ham, and been dumped out of the Champions League after back-to-back defeats by Real Madrid.

"Nobody gave one pound, even myself, for the victory," Guardiola added. "Arsenal are the best, so far, no doubt about that. Today was a real challenge. I said to the players, 'Today, we are going to see what our level is against the best team, what we are.'"

Having shown just how high that level can be, it would be crazy for Guardiola to leave this team at this stage. While Sunday was easily City's best performance of the season against a top side, it was far from their first big result this term.

They have beaten Liverpool home and away, for the first time in one season since 1937. They were a last-minute Gabriel Martinelli equaliser away from winning at the Emirates in September. They destroyed Manchester United at home and although they lost at Old Trafford, they were depleted by injuries to their centre-backs and any other day Diogo Dalot could have been sent off.

They have won at the Bernabeu, admittedly in a league-phase game that no one is going to remember after their 3-0 defeat there earlier this month.

The thrashing in the Spanish capital will be looked back upon as an example of Guardiola's ego counting against him, as his desire for 80,000 Madrid fans to "feel that we are there" badly backfired.

But if he stays for another year, perhaps even longer, Guardiola can consign that memory to the past and try and improve upon his count of one Champions League in 10 attempts with City.

Another motivation for Guardiola to stay is that this is a team still in transition, and the type of performance they pulled off against Arsenal could just be the start of their journey.

Since City last won the Premier League title in May 2024, there has been a turnover of 11 players. Ten players among those serial winners and senior players like Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker have left the squad, while another 12 have arrived.

While City's recruitment in January 2025 was rushed and felt a little desperate, their latest transfers have been shrewd.

Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo were among the best players in the Premier League before they joined City and have made seamless adaptations since arriving. Indeed, Guehi had to sit the final out as he was cup-tied and will have to wait a little longer before winning his first trophy with the club.

Khusanov, the best signing from that flurry of new arrivals in January 2025, is fast becoming an idol for City fans due to his pace and tenacity.

More change is on the horizon as captain Bernardo Silva's contract runs out in June, as does that of John Stones, who joined the same summer as Guardiola in 2026. Stones, who has spent much of the last three campaigns struggling with injury, has effectively already been replaced by Guehi and Khusanov, while Josko Gvardiol's switch back to central defence from left-back further softens the eventual blow.

Filling the void soon to be left by Silva, who has defied his critics by producing astonishing performances in clutch moments this season, will be far harder. But having begun the awkward process of squad renewal himself and making difficult decisions such as moving on Ilkay Gundogan and De Bruyne, would Guardiola really want someone else to finish the job?

Guardiola's celebrations on Sunday were wonderfully visceral. He kicked an advertising hoarding, earned a booking and was wholly unrepentant as he cried: "Give me another yellow card, but I will celebrate it. I proved that I am not artificial intelligence. I am a human being, and I want to celebrate it".

And it showed that for all he has won in the game, he still buzzes off winning top-level matches, particularly when his team plays so well.

Guardiola has never hidden that he is hooked on winning trophies. After reclaiming the Premier League title in 2021 he said: "It’s so addictive, so nice. It’s addictive and after that, why should you stop? Why should we not try to improve and do it again?

"When you have the feeling it's enough and the pleasure is not there, it’s the time to say goodbye, but if the players still want to continue, then we're going to carry on."

Last year, after the worst season of his career in terms of results, Guardiola detailed how it spilled into his personal life.

"I want to suffer when I'm not winning games," he told Reuters. "I want to feel bad. I want to sleep badly. I want that when the situation goes bad, it affects me... I want that! I'm angry... my food, it tastes worse...

"I don't need to eat much because I need to feel that [anger]. Because if it doesn't, what sense would it have? Winning or losing... We're here in this world to feel different experiences, different moods."

Guardiola's marriage partly broke down due to his addiction to football. He returns to Barcelona whenever he gets time off and he has skipped the occasional press conference this season.

But his home does not have the same draw as before, as his children are grown up and can travel to see him at work, as his eldest daughter Maria did at Wembley.

When he is in Manchester he is utterly devoted to his art. He has only just begun work on his latest masterpiece. So, why would he walk away now?