At the end of this season, Pep Guardiola will have spent four years in Manchester. He’s never coached a team for longer than three years and so many have questioned as to whether he will remain at Manchester City beyond the end of the season.
The Spaniard has already stated he will see out his contract with the Premier League club, but there’s still that small possibility that he could leave the reigning champions, despite unfinished business.
He came to Manchester to win the Champions League. He’s yet to do that, with two consecutive Champions League quarter-final exits, against runners-up on both occasions – Liverpool in 2018 and Tottenham Hotspur in 2019. If he wins the Champions League this reason, then perhaps he doesn’t have a reason to stay.
With interest coming from former club Bayern Munich following their dismissal of Niko Kovac after a thrashing defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, rumours of a Guardiola return to the Allianz Arena have been strong.
Guardiola says he was “incredibly happy” at Bayern Munich but insists he will honour his Manchester City contract. However, we know that these things change on a day-to-day basis in football.
When asked about a potential return to Bayern Munich, Guardiola responded: “When these things appear, is it the media or the club? We don’t know. It could be one guy [starting a rumour] and then people take it.
“I like the people from Bayern a lot. I was incredibly happy there, but they know I’m a guy that respects what I sign.
“In football, when you are not getting results you can be sacked but in this case if the club [Manchester City] wants me, I want to stay here.
“It doesn’t matter if Bayern want me or not in the future. My love for the city, the club and the people I met there is incredible.
“It is the same in Barcelona because it is my hometown, but the same happened here. I have more things to do.”
The chances of Manchester City sacking Guardiola at the end of the season even if he misses out on the Premier League and Champions League is extremely slim. Therefore, the chances of him leaving the Etihad this summer is also slim. But you can never say never in football.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has already expressed his interest in his former coach with Mauricio Pochetinno, Erik ten Hag and Thomas Tuchel also coaches that have been named with the vacant position. And with Bayern in no rush to name a successor to Kovac with interim Hansi Flick doing an adequate job, Bayern may prove a tempting proposition for Guardiola come the summer if he does part ways with Manchester City.
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