He breached the FA’s kit and advertising regulations, the governing body said.

Guardiola said in November he wears the ribbon to support imprisoned politicians in his native Catalonia.

The ex-Barcelona and Spain midfielder has until 18:00 GMT on Monday, 5 March to respond to the charge.

The FA had spoken to Guardiola about the issue in mid-December and two formal warnings have been given which were ignored.

The charge was then triggered when he again wore it pitchside – he is free to wear it elsewhere – during City’s shock FA Cup loss against Wigan on Monday.

Two key members of the Catalan independence movement were held without bail after an independence vote in October, which the Madrid government deemed illegal.

Guardiola had said in November: “If one day in prison was already too much, look how many days they’ve been there now.

“Like everybody knows, hopefully sooner or later I can stop wearing it.

“All the politicians that are in prison, I hope they can leave and go back home soon with their families and continue living the lives they deserve.”

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Source: BBC

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City, who have a 12-point lead in the table with a game in hand, face Watford on Tuesday, their fourth match in 11 days over the holiday period.

Guardiola saw key players Gabriel Jesus and Kevin de Bruyne suffer injuries at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The Spaniard said: “If you tell me that technically, physically it’s good for the players: no, it’s a disaster.”

City confirmed on Monday that Jesus had suffered a medial collateral ligament injury and would “undergo further examinations to establish the extent of his lay-off”.

Jesus later wrote on social media: “Thank God it is not very bad and I won’t have to go through any surgery. Promise to be back as soon as possible!”

City’s run of 18 successive wins came to an end with the goalless draw at Selhurst Park, the first time they have failed to score in the league this term.

Their 246 hours between the four matches over Christmas and New Year is one of the longer gaps in the Premier League, with Leicester having only 213 hours between the start and finish of their four fixtures.

Having managed in Spain and Germany, where winter breaks are employed each season, Guardiola said of the British domestic structure: “It’s a tradition. I have to adapt.

“Sometimes you have three days’ recovery, sometimes four, sometimes two, everybody is the same.

“Last season we had less recovery than this season, maybe next season we will have a little more.

“It is what it is. This kind of thing I can give my opinion, but do you believe I am going to [get the authorities to] change something? No way.”

Guardiola, who urged referees to “protect” players from overly physical challenges, will be without Jesus “for a little more than a month” and is still waiting to learn the extent of De Bruyne’s injury.

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Source: BBC

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Eliaquim Mangala is expected to depart, which would leave City with Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi as established centre-backs.

“We don’t have too much more to spend but we are going to see,” said Guardiola, speaking before Saturday’s friendly against Tottenham (23:00 BST).

City have spent about £200m this summer – £120m of that on three full-backs.

This month, England right-back Kyle Walker moved from Spurs for £45m, Brazil international Danilo joined from Real Madrid for £26.5m and France left-back Benjamin Mendy was recruited from Monaco for £52m.

They join Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva (£43m) and Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson Moraes (£35m) in arriving at City this summer.

City have also been linked with moves for Arsenal’s Chile forward Alexis Sanchez and another Monaco player, £160m-rated 18-year-old France striker Kylian Mbappe.

However, Guardiola declined to answer questions on that duo, stating that “they are Arsenal and Monaco players”.

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Source: BBC

The post Man City will try to sign central defender – Guardiola appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Guardiola and Conte are both in their debut season in English football and face each other again on Wednesday.

The latter has fared better, with his Chelsea side leading the Premier League, 11 points ahead of fourth-placed City.

“My opinion about my colleague Conte is that he’s superb,” said the Catalan.

“He was able to make Italy play beautiful football – Juventus too – in a culture where it’s so defensive.

“He’s an excellent manager, I learn a lot when I see his teams – Juventus, Italy and now. I like to do that because you see what they want to do. Their teams control a lot of aspects.

“Maybe he’s the best.”

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Source: BBC

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