Guardiola does not know if he is going to retire, but he is “sure” he will take a break
Pep Guardiola has said that after his time at Manchester City he is going to “stop” and have some rest. The Spaniard has been at City for nearly nine years, winning 18 trophies, which translates to a highly prolific average of two trophies per season.
It’s a record that has established him as one of the greatest managers in Premier League history, and certainly the greatest in City’s. Only Sir Alex Ferguson could contend with and perhaps deny the 54-year-old of the honour of being the English game’s greatest-ever coach.
However, verdicts like these in the minds of fans don’t seem to concern him that much.
“I want people to remember me however they want,” Guardiola told ESPN Brasil. “After my contract with City, I’m going to stop. I’m sure. I don’t know if I’m going to retire, but I’m going to take a break. How I want to be remembered, I don’t know.
“All coaches want to win so we can have a memorable job, but I believe that the fans of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City had fun watching my teams play. I don’t think we should ever live thinking about whether we’re going to be remembered.
“When we die, our families cry for two or three days and then that’s it – you’re forgotten. In the careers of coaches, there are good and bad ones, the important thing is that the good ones are remembered for longer.
“I’ll tell you that the most important thing is not what people think of you, after all, our lives as footballers have been very good. There are new challenges as a coach, I don’t know what will happen in the future and in the end that doesn’t matter.”
Guardiola has had a poor – by his standards – 2024/2025 season with City, suffering 15 losses, the most in a season in his career so far. City have also dropped from blowing teams away and winning the Premier League virtually every season to competing for Champions League qualification.
The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager admits that this has been one of the most trying periods in his career. It ironically came just two seasons after arguably its zenith, when he led Manchester City to a treble in 2023, winning the same glory Ferguson did with Manchester United in 1999.
Guardiola still has a contract with City until 2027. After then, even he doesn’t know if he’ll sit at a dug-out again. He’ll be hoping to make the most of his remaining time at the club.
“What we did during 10, nine years was exceptional,” he said, “but now we have to sit down and learn to try to understand what we need to produce in the future.”
