8 Reasons Why Man City Will Be Pep Guardiola's Biggest Test

1. There's A Chance He Might Not Even Be Contesting Europe's Biggest Competition Next Year

At the time of writing this piece, Manchester City are sitting in fourth place, a point behind Arsenal, two points ahead of a West Ham side on a great run of form, and nine games from the end of the season. Their form, aside from a win against an Aston Villa side pretty much resigned to relegation, has been indifferent of late, and they are playing a risky game of falling out of the coveted top four, and entry into Europe's elite competition.

Whilst the mentality at City at the moment seems to be progress in the Champions League, they are falling perilously close to finishing outside of the top four. This season is turning out to be the craziest since its formation in 1992, and anything is possible in the league at the moment. Should City end up finishing outside of the top four for the first time since the Mansour takeover, they may well find it difficult to attract the top names to the club that they otherwise would with the guarantee of elite European football.

Would the likes of Paul Pogba and Paulo Dybala be attracted by the idea of playing the likes of FC Sion or Rapid Wien on a Thursday night? If results go against them, and given the way this season has gone it's a very real possibility, this could be a very real prospect for fans at the Etihad next season.

Do you think Pep Guardiola will be successful at the Etihad? Share your assessment below in the comments thread.