Of all the things that Pep Guardiola said about his Manchester City’s struggles following their 4-1 defeat away to Sporting Lisbon, his response to an off-topic question might have been the most illuminating.
In the section reserved for questions in Portuguese at the end of his press conference, a Brazilian reporter asked him about his chances of taking charge of Brazil’s national team.
“After a 4-1 defeat, I’m no longer an option,” he joked, trying to brush it off. The inquisitor was insistent, though, and so Guardiola must have felt compelled to give a proper answer.
“More than ever, I want to lift up the team and return them to their top level,” he said, presumably meaning City rather than Brazil. Responding in Spanish, he used the phrase ‘tengo ganas’, which implies a bit more excitement than simply wanting to do something. He is looking forward to the task of overcoming City’s injury crisis and subsequent run of bad results.
“It is a tough challenge, but I am here,” Guardiola, 53, had said earlier, addressing City’s run of three defeats in a row. “It will be a tough season — we knew that from the start. But this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players and try it.”
City’s slump is set against the backdrop of Guardiola’s unresolved future. He is in the final year of his contract and it was widely expected within the club during the summer that he would leave in 2025, alongside director of football Txiki Begiristain, whose departure, and the arrival of Hugo Viana as his replacement, was confirmed in October.
Recent results can therefore be viewed in different ways: are these the last vestiges of this golden City side when Guardiola and Begiristain are on the way out?
Or, does the challenge of picking up his side once again make Guardiola more likely to stay, in the way that he keeps finding motivation to go again and again, even when some of those around him have felt that it was time to ride off into the sunset?
Well-placed sources — who, like all featured in this article, will remain anonymous to protect relationships — have indicated that the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is making a major play to bring Guardiola on board, calling the Catalan on several occasions this year.
Guardiola has always said that he wants to coach a national team at a major tournament. He reiterated that remains the case after Thomas Tuchel took the England job, for which Guardiola had been approached but did not offer the FA encouragement that he would be available.
Guardiola was said to be annoyed when the CBF distanced themselves from hiring him following his spell at Barcelona, but sources close to him say that he likes the idea of managing Brazil. Crucially, though, there is an even stronger school of thought that he will stay at City for one more year, and work towards managing a national side in preparation for the 2030 World Cup.
Guardiola has not made up his mind but some within the club have noted a change in atmosphere around the place. Previously, it was taken as read that he would leave, but another contract extension has seemed increasingly possible.
His last two City deals were signed in November (2020 and 2022). With the international break coming up, it would be sensible to at least be on standby for an update.
During the previous international break in October, he flew to Abu Dhabi, where City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, is based, for commercial activities, but it would have been unusual had he not spoken to Mansour, or at least chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, regarding his future while there.
After that break, Guardiola said he was in no rush to confirm his intentions because he felt that the club are not concerned by the situation.
“I’m pretty sure the club had options when Txiki leaves and they have options when Pep will leave,” he said at a press conference. “Sooner or later it is going to happen and they are prepared so it’s not going to be a surprise.
“I want to be convinced it’s what’s best for the club.
“I will not delay any action knowing that I’m creating a problem for the club. If I feel I’m a problem for the club, I will take a decision as quickly as possible. But I don’t have that feeling, they understand the reasons I have.”
One source familiar with his thinking, though, had previously confided that he is likely to make a decision sooner rather than later, so that the club can move forward decisively whether he stays or goes, allowing them time to find a replacement if he does depart.
If Guardiola is prepared to stay, it is not quite as simple as telling City that he wants to continue. Of course, the club would be only too happy to get him to put pen to paper, but given the previous thinking was that he would leave in 2025, he would need to discuss his plans with his coaching staff and family, essentially having to convince them that another year in Manchester is in everybody’s best interests.
Either way, things are likely to be resolved before the outcome is reached regarding the 115 charges against the club. It may seem unusual to people outside City that such a potentially significant event might have no bearing on big decisions like this but, as is the case with Begiristain’s departure, the big names on the football side have been going about their business as normal, having been assured by the club on the very day that the news of the charges broke over 18 months ago that they had done nothing wrong and would clear their name.
Sources also believe that Guardiola would be more likely to stay if City were found guilty and did receive a harsh punishment; as he has said, he wants the best for the club in every aspect, whether that comes to how much they spend on players or whether he considers himself to ever become a burden. By the same token, he would not want to leave them in a vulnerable position if they were, for argument’s sake, relegated or docked points.
Guardiola said during City’s battle with UEFA over alleged financial fair play breaches that he would leave if it was proven that his employers had lied to him; his point being that they had not lied to him and he did not believe that would be proven otherwise. That suggests that if things go badly in the Premier League case, he would be minded to walk out, but his depth of feeling for the club has grown even more since then and he believes that City are being attacked by rivals in the same way that some supporters do. A defiant response to any guilty verdict cannot be ruled out, then, though no one knows how he would react to the most serious charges being proven.
That said, some within the club regard the recent verdict from City’s legal challenge against the Premier League regarding Associated Party Transactions (APT) to be beneficial when it comes to the 115 charges.
While there is no direct correlation between the disputes, and both City and the Premier League claimed victories in public, City genuinely do believe they got the better of the outcome. They hope that by being able to establish that some Premier League rules were against competition law, they will have been able to prove other important points in the long-anticipated hearing that started in September and is now approaching its conclusion.
These are uncertain times at City but developments are on the way.
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
