“People say no, ‘we’re going to win the title’, but I don’t care. For United it doesn’t matter what happened
in the last four or five years, always in the beginning they are contenders,” the City boss claimed.
“Yes (they are now contenders after signing Maguire), he’s a top class player, a central defender we were
interested in, but we couldn’t afford it.
“He’s an excellent player. He made an incredible World Cup, strong in the air, good with the ball and drives
with the ball so fast and young and has all the qualities to work for United, so congratulations to United for
the signing.
“I don’t know if it will be like last season (a straight fight between Manchester City and Liverpool for the
title).
“United with Maguire, Arsenal with good signings as well, Chelsea and Tottenham too. I think there will be
many contenders this time.”
Man City celebrate winning the Community
Shield (PA)Liverpool’s Joel Matip cancelled out Raheem Sterling’s opener, but City held off late pressure at Wembley
before prevailing in the shoot-out thanks to Claudio Bravo, who denied Gini Wijnaldum to allow Gabriel
Jesus to eventually convert the winning spot kick and seal a 5-4 victory.
Guardiola insists the Reds provided his side with the perfect test to assess their progress ahead of their
Premier League opener against West Ham next Saturday.
“They (Liverpool) are a top class team,” Guardiola added. “The difference was one point or one penalty.
“Sometimes the coin can land on your side, sometimes not, it’s good to face them. To see how well
prepared we need to be to go to the end to win the title.”
Leroy Sane, who has been heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich, limped off after 13 minutes with
an injury scare, but Guardiola believes the early signs suggest it is not serious.
“The first impression was not good, but I think it’s not bad,” Guardiola revealed. “I don’t know, I spoke to
the doctor, but we’ll wait. I think he will be OK though.”