“You didn’t ask?” – Pep Guardiola found out one manager didn’t want to be part of a special montage video.
One of Pep Guardiola’s biggest rivals decided not to join a special tribute video made for him earlier this season, it turns out.
Guardiola is managing Manchester City for the last time against Aston Villa on Sunday, after an amazing 10 years that brought 20 trophies, including six Premier League titles.
Earlier this week, news came out that Guardiola would leave City before his contract ends, with young coach Enzo Maresca set to take over.
Guardiola confirmed this during his press conference on Friday, saying the team needs a “new energy.”
His legacy at the Etihad Stadium lives on, as the club announced the new north stand will be named after him, their greatest ever manager.
During the 2025/26 season, when Guardiola led City to win both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, he celebrated his 1000th game as a manager back in November, after beating Liverpool 3-0.
To celebrate, Sky Sports put together a video with messages from current and former managers who faced Guardiola.
According to a detailed report by Jack Gaughan in the Daily Mail, former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who battled against Guardiola for years, “did not need asking twice” to take part.
Roy Hodgson was also happy to join in, even learning how to send a video on his phone. Arsene Wenger, Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis, and Neil Warnock all sent their congratulations too. But Jose Mourinho was missing.
Guardiola noticed and asked the Sky team, “You didn’t ask Jose, then?” They had asked, but Mourinho declined.
Guardiola and Mourinho know each other from when Guardiola was a player at Barcelona and Mourinho worked as a translator. They faced off in El Clasico, then in England when City and Manchester United clashed, before Mourinho’s short time at Spurs.
Guardiola did receive a special message from Sir Alex Ferguson, who won the Premier League 13 times and who Guardiola respects a lot.
Guardiola changed English football with his style and became the only manager to win four Premier League titles in a row. He also matched Ferguson’s treble-winning achievement with City in 2023.
In his last interview with Sky Sports, Guardiola shared a big regret from his time at City. Early on, he let go of fan-favorite goalkeeper Joe Hart, who only played once more in a Champions League game before going on loan to Torino.
Hart, a three-time Premier League Golden Glove winner, never played for City again. He was replaced first by Claudio Bravo, who made some mistakes, and then by Ederson, who changed the position.
Looking back, Guardiola wishes he had given Hart a chance.
“I didn’t give Joe Hart a chance to be with me, to prove how good he was,” he told Sky Sports. “I should have done. Respect to Claudio and Ederson, but at that moment, I thought, ‘OK Joe, let’s try this together. If it doesn’t work, then we change.’”
“But it didn’t happen. Sometimes in life, I have to make decisions, and sometimes I’m not fair enough.”