When Pep Guardiola’s contract with Manchester City comes to an end in the summer of 2019, the Blues have a few alternatives available to them when it comes to finding a new manager. Guardiola has expressed his possibility of leaving the club.
The fact that Sheikh Mansour recognized Pep Guardiola was the right coach to fulfill his objective of making Manchester City the finest team in the world led him to always want Guardiola to be the coach at Manchester City.
It was necessary for the billionaire from Abu Dhabi to wait, and following Guardiola’s tenure at his cherished Barcelona and his year-long absence, he went on to spend three years at Bayern Munich. In the meanwhile, City appointed former Barcelona players Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain to the positions of chief executive officer and director of football, respectively. This was done in an effort to make City more like him.
When Guardiola came at City in 2016, he discovered a place that seemed like a home away from home. Since then, City has provided him with everything, from capital to players. As a result of City’s ability to effectively match Guardiola’s lofty goals, the Blues have become not just the best club in England and Europe, but also the best club in the entire globe.
In the event that Guardiola departs the club in the summer of next year, when his contract will expire and he will be 54 years old, this model will be put to the ultimate test. How is it possible for City to replace the best manager in the world when you have spent so much time customizing the club to look like him?
To understand the anguish that may occur when a legend departs Manchester United, all City needs to do is glance across the city to Manchester United. City, under the leadership of Guardiola, exude the same aura as United did under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, and the Etihad Stadium is a place where many teams are defeated mentally before they ever cross the finish line.
To this point, Arne Slot has been successful in his attempt to replace Jurgen Klopp. However, Liverpool was need to completely revamp their backroom staff, which included the reinstatement of Michael Edwards and Julian Ward as well as the appointment of Richard Hughes as director of football. It is also difficult to compare Slot to Guardiola, because the Dutchman, who is only the head coach, is possibly the least dominant manager the club has had in decades.
There are a few trump cards that City possesses, and Guardiola is not interested in working for any other company. It is not possible for him to go back to Barcelona, he has finished his career with Bayern, and he is not interested in working for any other Premier League club. A proud Catalan, he has no interest in managing Spain or Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain does not thrill him. He is also not interested in managing Real Madrid.
In addition, there is the recently enlarged Club World Cup that FIFA is hosting, and as someone who has conquered every peak that football has to offer, he is particularly interested in this uncharted region. As a result of the fact that this tournament does not conclude until the middle of July, it is extremely difficult to find a replacement coach to take his place before the beginning of the 2025-26 Premier League season.
City has a number of choices available to them in the event that Guardiola decides to go, and Michel has performed wonders at Girona, the Blues’ sister club. Since he took over in 2021, he has led Girona, which was not particularly well-known at the time, to La Liga and into the Champions League.
Over the course of the previous season, Ruben Amorim won his second Portuguese crown with Sporting Lisbon. It appears that it is only a matter of time until he comes to England, having turned down West Ham and Liverpool as potential clubs for his transfer. Hugo Viana, the director of football at Sporting, is expected to take over for Begiristain in the summer of next year, which might further strengthen Amorim’s hand.
Vincent Kompany, a born and raised City player, is another player who has the potential to bolster his credentials by helping Bayern Munich to either the Bundesliga or the Champions League. When it comes to replacing something that cannot be replaced, the city does have alternatives.
