Pep Guardiola will leave Manchester City after their last game against Aston Villa, and his replacement has already been chosen.
Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola is reportedly planning to leave the club at the end of this season. Just days after leading City to the FA Cup final against Chelsea, news has come out that the Spaniard, who has won 20 major trophies with the team, will manage the Sky Blues for the last time when they play Aston Villa at the Etihad on Sunday, May 24.
The Mail reports that City has already told their sponsors an official announcement will likely happen on Sunday. The report also says there might be an open-top bus parade in Manchester on Monday, May 25, no matter if City wins the Premier League or not.
Guardiola still has one year left on his contract, and before the FA Cup final, he said he planned to finish it. When asked if the FA Cup final, which could be his last game at Wembley as City’s manager, makes him feel sad, he replied, “No way. I still have one year left on my contract.”
Before Sunday, Guardiola and his team will face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday, May 19. Losing this game could mean Arsenal wins the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. Despite the news about his future, Guardiola stayed focused on the Bournemouth game during Monday’s press conference.
He said, “Bournemouth, Bournemouth, Bournemouth. They’re 17 games unbeaten, which is amazing. After losing three players from last season’s strong defense, they’ve done something incredible. Our only way forward is to win, so we need to stop their run. Otherwise, it’s over.”
He added, “Bournemouth has always been tough to play against. Last year, they gave us one of the hardest tests, even if we did badly once. In the quarter-final last season, we played really well. We’ll see which version of ourselves shows up this time. We have three days to prepare; they have ten.”
“They want to qualify for the Champions League, so it won’t be easy. But we know what we have to do — it’s simple: win this and then beat Aston Villa. We want to be with our fans at the end and fight for the title by winning both games. To do that, we must beat Bournemouth first.”
If Guardiola decides to step down, he will leave as City’s most successful manager and is second only to Sir Alex Ferguson in Premier League titles, with six compared to Ferguson’s 13.
There are already talks about who might replace him. Former City defender and Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany, as well as ex-Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca, are among those City admire. The Athletic reports that Maresca is expected to take over next season.