“I will make a decision as soon as possible,” promised the former FC Barcelona coach, whose contract expires in 2025, on Friday at a press conference.
Pep Guardiola appears in no rush to make a decision on his future. The Spanish technician from Manchester City must decide in the coming weeks whether he returns for a tenth consecutive season by signing a new contract before the end of the season, his current lease expiring in 2025, or whether he prefers to leave the outcome of this contract which expires on June 30.
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In the midst of change, Manchester City is waiting for it to position itself. “I will make a decision as soon as possible,” promised the former FC Barcelona coach on Friday at a press conference. “I will not delay action if I feel that it is a problem for the club,” he also assured, two days before a trip to Wolverhampton, in the Premier League.
“I will miss him for his confidence”
The imminent departure as sports director of Txiki Begiristain, to which he was very close, will necessarily be integrated into his thinking. Guardiola took the announcement very badly from his friend and ex-teammate, who had offered him his first managerial position at Barcelona, before convincing him a few years later to join him in the Premier League. Alongside Txiki Begiristain, Pep Guardiola has taken Manchester City to the heights of glory with six of the club’s ten Premier League titles, including the last four in a row (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), and the club’s first Champions League in 2023, not to mention a multitude of other trophies.
“A part of me is leaving. It’s a friend who is leaving, the architect of one of the best teams in Barcelona’s history. A friend of mine and I knew for a long time that the decision had been taken, for family and personal reasons I know how grateful he is for the experience he had here. I will miss him for his trust, especially in bad times, because he gave me. allowed me to be incredibly balanced in my work When things were not going well and I wanted to destroy everything, he always told me to calm down. He helped me a lot in Barcelona and here.
“My successor? The decision is up to the club”
Portuguese Hugo Viana, from Sporting Lisbon, will permanently replace Txiki Begiristain on a full-time basis next year, after ensuring a smooth transition. “I think the club is so strong, incredibly well structured and it should be that way,” Guardiola admitted. “All families must move forward and the club will move forward.”
Aware that one day he will have to turn the page on his own time on the Skyblues bench, Pep Guardiola has offered to help the club appoint a successor if Manchester City asks him to do so. “If they ask me (who should be the next coach), I will give my opinion, but that’s not my job,” said the person concerned. “The decision is up to the club. I would say that the new sporting director must choose from the moment I am no longer there.”
According to Sky Sport, Sporting coach Ruben Amorim would be among the avenues already studied by Manchester City to replace Pep Guardiola in the event of the departure of the Catalan coach.
