The Manchester City board will make a new effort to keep Pep Guardiola at the helm of the 'sky blue' team, at least for one more season. The Catalan coach seemed convinced to leave after Txiki Begiristain's farewell to the Mancunian sports management was confirmed. However, the future of Santpedor now seems closer to taking a 180 degree turn.
And, after the arrival of Thomas Tuchel to the bench of the English team, Pep saw how his best alternative for 2025 vanished. In principle, the former coach of FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich seemed willing to assume control of the 'Three Lions' starting next summer, with the aim of leading the British to the 2026 World Cup.
However, the FA opted for Tuchel, who was coming from a difficult period in the Bavarian team, to replace Gareth Southgate whose runners-up finish in the last European Championship was not enough to remain at the head of the team at least until the end of anus.
Guardiola would prefer to stay one more year in Manchester
Guardiola has repeatedly expressed how comfortable he feels working with City, which is why, without a major challenge on the horizon (such as coaching a big national team), he may prefer to stay at least one more year in Manchester.
The Spanish coach has a contract until the end of 2024/25, but the 'sky blue' board has tried, without success so far, to convince him to renew a contract that will complete a decade in the summer of 2026. Although the coach has always had complete freedom to define when to speak with the club about its future, the parties have preferred to wait for the resolution of the legal battle between the 'cityzens' and the Premier League, which in principle would be close to being resolved in favor of the Mancunians.
Manchester's crisis of results in recent weeks (four defeats in a row between Premier and Champions League) can be interpreted as a symptom of the imminent end of Pep's cycle, but the coach does not plan, far from it, to take a step aside, leaving to the team in trouble. On the other hand, the option of a possible return to Barça does not seem feasible for the man from Santpedor, since the great work done so far by Hansi Flick gives the Barça team peace of mind for the future.