PEP GUARDIOLA ADMITS "IT’S DECIDED" TO STOP MANAGING AFTER MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola drops a retirement bombshell, confirming he will "stop" after Manchester City to focus on his health and life.
Pep Guardiola’s been dropping hints again that he might not just leave Manchester City soon but could actually walk away from football management altogether. Sure, his contract runs until 2027, but the talk just won’t die down. People keep saying he might pack his bags at the end of this season.
Every time he faces the press, he brushes it off. It doesn't matter; the city's already looking at who comes next. Since December, they’ve been making plans, and word is, they’ve even thought about bringing in his old assistant, Enzo Maresca, to take over if Pep steps down.
There’s also talk about him moving upstairs into some kind of executive role. After all, he’s done it all: Barcelona, Bayern, and now City. Maybe he’d rather shape things from behind the scenes.
Rumours keep swirling, especially now, as City gears up for that big Champions League showdown with Real Madrid. Pep’s latest comments just poured more fuel on the fire. When TNT Sports asked if he’d miss these huge matches after he retires, he didn’t exactly sound like someone planning to stick around forever.
He said, “Of course I’ll miss these games. I really love it here; I like coming back. People in Madrid probably don’t expect it, but I have a lot of respect for them; they’ve done so much for football.
“Yeah, I’ll miss it, but I’ll also miss going to Camp Nou; I’ll miss Bayern Munich. Hopefully, we get through, and I can go back there, and I’ll miss it when I stop. These nights are special.
“I’ll even miss Selhurst Park. I love it. The Premier League and these stadiums. I don’t know, I’ll miss the Champions League, but also places like Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Goodison Park; these grounds are a big reason why I love England and the Premier League. And the FA Cup! Playing against League One teams… I really like it! But one day, it’ll all be over, right?”
Pep’s already taken a break before; after Barcelona, he disappeared for a year before showing up at Bayern. Last summer, he was pretty open about what comes next. He basically said another break is coming once he leaves City.
He put it like this: “After this time with City, I’m going to stop. That’s for sure. It’s decided, more than decided.
“I don’t know for how long – maybe a year, maybe two, three, five, ten, fifteen; I have no idea. But I’ll stop when I leave City because I need to focus on myself, my body, you know…
'In Catalan, we say "badar".' Badar, badar, badar… I want to do that, just stop and watch the cows go by as the train passes. My grandfather used to say, ‘You look at me the way cows watch the train go by.’ That’s it. Sometimes you just need to stop and watch life go past.”
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Erling Haaland is "feeling better!" Read Pep Guardiola’s injury update, the Forest lineup news, and the Real Madrid prep here.
Erling Haaland is feeling a lot better now, but he still needs to get checked after Manchester City’s training on Tuesday before they decide if he can face Nottingham Forest. He missed the Leeds game because he picked up a small knock in training last Thursday, and right after that match, Pep Guardiola didn’t have any updates on Haaland’s fitness.
Even though Haaland’s still not a sure thing for the Forest game, City are pretty hopeful he’ll be back after getting the weekend off. The same goes for Nico O’Reilly. He limped off with an ankle issue during the 1-0 win over Leeds, but he managed to join the recovery session on Sunday.
“Erling feels much better, but we didn’t train yesterday. We’ll see how he is in training today and then make a call,” Guardiola said at his Tuesday press conference.
The city handled things well without Haaland up front. Antoine Semenyo got the only goal, playing alongside Omar Marmoush. Guardiola didn’t seem too stressed before kickoff, either. “He had some problems and a little injury two days ago in training. Nothing serious, but he wasn’t ready today,” Pep said at Elland Road.
Other than that, City’s injury list isn’t too worrying as they keep chasing trophies. Jeremy Doku was back in the squad at Leeds for the first time since his injury, and Savinho came on in the second half, his first appearance since New Year’s Day.
Right now, only Mateo Kovačić and Josko Gvardiol are still out, but Guardiola’s positive about Kovačić since he’s started training again.
“It’s March, and we’re still in all the competitions. That’s special,” Guardiola said. “Last season, we were already out of the Champions League and FA Cup at this point. Now, it’s Newcastle in the FA Cup on Saturday, then two games with Real Madrid. Win, and you keep going; lose, and you’re out. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
City are looking to cut the gap to Arsenal on Wednesday night. Both play at the same time. City hosts Forest while Arsenal heads to Brighton, who just beat Forest. There are five points between them, but Arsenal have played an extra game.
After Forest, City have two big away matches: Newcastle in the FA Cup, then Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16. Haaland has already scored at the Bernabeu, but oddly enough, he hasn’t managed a goal against Newcastle in four tries this season.
THE FERGUSON BLUEPRINT: COULD PEP GUARDIOLA MIMIC SIR ALEX’S LEGENDARY 2013 EXIT?
Shay Given suggests Pep Guardiola could mirror Sir Alex Ferguson by leaving Manchester City if they secure the 2026 title.
People are starting to wonder if Pep Guardiola will bow out in style if he wins the Premier League this season, kind of like Sir Alex Ferguson did with Manchester United during his last year.
On Saturday night, Manchester City beat Leeds and pulled itself just two points behind Arsenal. The pressure’s on. Arsenal still lead, and they can stretch that gap to five points again, but they’ve played one more game than City. It’s a tight race.
City are no strangers to chasing down Arsenal; they’ve done it twice before in the last three seasons. Guardiola’s team has the experience, and honestly, that counts for a lot right now.
Arsenal have a great squad, no doubt about it, but not many of their players have actually won the Premier League. That could make a difference as the pressure builds.
Shay Given, who used to play in goal at the top level, thinks Guardiola might walk away from Manchester City if he lifts another trophy. He sees a bit of Ferguson in Pep winning big, then calling it a day. Given talked about it on Premier League Productions: “Arsenal probably have the deeper squad, two or three players for every position. But Pep’s not giving anything away. When someone asked him what Arteta needs to do to win the league, he just said, ‘I’m not going to tell him.’ He wants that trophy for himself.”
It’s pretty simple now: If either team wins all their remaining games, they win the league. Given says he’d back City. He trusts their experience. “They’ve been here before,” he said. “And I’ve got a feeling Pep might leave if they win the league. He’s rebuilt the team; maybe it’s time for someone else to take over, but he’ll want to go out on a high.”
Guardiola and City haven’t stood still. Over the last year and a half, they’ve kept reshaping their squad planning for life after Pep. Marc Guehi, Tijjani Reijnders, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Antoine Semenyo have all come in. Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias are either at their peak or about to hit it. The city looks ready, whatever happens next.
