Five potential Man City managers assessed as Pep Guardiola urged to leave by Etihad insider
Performance analyst Carles Planchart has explained to Pep Guardiola why he should think about quitting Manchester City before his contract expires, and we looked at five possible candidates for the Etihad hot seat.
Since taking over in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has transformed both Man City and English football in general.
With six Premier League titles including an unprecedented four-peat—one Champions League, two FA Cups, four League Cups, and other trophies, he has led City to an era of unparalleled success.
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The only 100-point season in the Premier League in 2017–18, as well as the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup treble in 2022–23, are among City’s greatest accomplishments under Guardiola.
Given that he only spent four years at Barcelona and three at Bayern Munich, the 54-year-old’s contract with City, which was signed in November of last year, runs until June 2027.
Planchart believes it is time for Guardiola to take his career in a different direction, which is a noteworthy decision from someone who has worked under Guardiola during all three of his managerial stints to date and only left City in June.
“It’s a personal decision he’ll have to make. I think a project should last five or six years, no more.” “But not for him, for everyone. After that, you have to regenerate.”
“As a friend, I would tell him to look for a new project because he still has a long way to go.”
“This is why he’s been at City for so long: they’ve treated us like family, they’ve let us work as if we were at home!” Planchart stated in an interview with Sport.
He is an avid football lover. He lives his life on the grass and the green. He is a creative genius. His ability to invent football is his greatest strength. The rest of us are copycats; the hard part of life is producing.
He is the best at this. “Sometimes you lack energy, and when you get into a bad dynamic, it’s hard,” Planchart remarked in response to a question concerning City’s difficult season the previous year.
You have to be at your best all the time in football. People were nearing the end of their careers, and we had injuries. Even among the employees, performance declined.
Due to a lack of energy, we had to struggle to qualify for the Champions League, which was a success. We were punished for a bad season by losing the cup final as well.
Tijjani Reijnders, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rayan Cherki, and Rayan Ait-Nouri are among the players City signed, along with Pep Lijnders and Kolo Toure as new coaches, as part of their makeover to keep Guardiola motivated.
Still, we believed it was necessary to examine potential managers might replace Guardiola in the future.
Andoni Iraola of Bournemouth sounds like a no-brainer. He has established a stellar reputation by playing an entertaining style of football and leading Bournemouth to new heights.
During his tenure at Vitality Stadium, Iraola has helped a number of players, including Milos Kerkez, Justin Kluivert, Dean Huijsen, and Antoine Semenyo.
Iraola has moved on excellently and helped the Cherries reach fourth place in seven league games, one point ahead of City.
He was unfortunate to see Bournemouth sell players like Huijsen, Kerkez, and Illia Zabarnyi during the summer.
Although Manchester United is also taking Iraola into consideration if they decide to fire Ruben Amorim in the future, he is one of the bookies’ favourites to succeed Guardiola.
City great Vincent Kompany returning to the Etihad as manager would be a dream come true for Guardiola. Because of his outstanding playing career there, Kompany already has a statue outside the stadium.
Regarding the Belgian, Guardiola stated in March 2023: “I am thrilled for his success in Burnley.” “He’ll return at some point. It was predetermined that he would become City’s manager. It will take place. It will happen, but I’m not sure when.
When Kompany was hired by Bayern, many were surprised, but he is succeeding in Bavaria. After winning all six of their league games thus far and scoring 25 goals, Bayern is defending their Bundesliga title in fine fashion.
Even though Kompany would probably be thrilled to take over as manager of his beloved City, he is currently content at the Allianz Arena.
Another option is Roberto De Zerbi
Guardiola has also recommended Roberto De Zerbi as a coach for the City position. Building on Graham Potter’s outstanding work, De Zerbi helped Brighton & Hove Albion perform substantially above their weight from September 2022 to June 2024.
The Telegraph claims that following a 1-1 draw, Guardiola informed Brighton’s players that De Zerbi would be “the next Man City manager.”
Since taking over as manager in July 2024, the Italian has led Marseille to a second-place finish in Ligue 1, one point behind reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Although De Zerbi’s style of football is exciting, his team’s defensive vulnerability has drawn criticism.
Two additional unexpected contenders have also been chosen by Wanderlustsport to be examined. Guardiola’s deputy from July 2016 until December 2019 was Mikel Arteta, who has been tipped to rejoin City.
After two recent seasons in which Arsenal finished just behind City, Arteta has stabilised the team and put them back in the running for Premier League crowns.
It will be quite difficult to entice Arteta, 43, to leave north London, even if the two teams used to have a tight relationship.
In addition to his desire to put an end to Arsenal’s title drought, a return to City would damage his standing with the Gunners supporters.
During the past 18 months, Arteta has shifted his thinking away from Guardiola’s and towards set pieces. Last but not least is Lijnders, who was Guardiola’s old rival at Liverpool.
At Anfield, Lijnders served as Jurgen Klopp’s assistant and is rumoured to have had a greater influence on choices than many supporters thought.
In the summer, Guardiola seized the opportunity to bring in Lijnders. Is he positioning the Dutchman as his heir apparent? Despite building a stellar reputation at Liverpool, Lijnders’ tenure as Red Bull Salzburg’s manager did not proceed as planned.
With Salzburg now 10 points behind league leaders Sturm Graz, Lijnders was fired in December after just six months in charge.
Therefore, City would be taking a significant risk if he were appointed as Guardiola’s replacement.
The manager Guardiola personally recommends to City officials might have a significant impact. Iraola seems to be the front-runner right now, but if Kompany is not happy at Bayern, that may change.
