There got to a point during what would be Manuel Pellegrini’s final season as Manchester City manager that journalists just stopped asking him about his future.
It was widely reported back then that Pep Guardiola would be coming in, and while Pellegrini had signed a contract extension at the start of the season in a bid to put that speculation to bed, it was a burning issue essentially every week.
The only problem was that Pellegrini never added any fuel to the fire; he simply refused to talk about it. He kept that up so well that he ended up having to announce his own departure at the very end of a press conference in February 2016, because everybody in the room had long since given up hope of him giving even the tiniest insight into his thinking.
Eight years down the line, Guardiola is very different.
On the final day of the last Premier League season, he said: “The reality is I am closer to leaving than staying.” On Thursday in New York, however, he gave some hope to City supporters that he might even sign a new contract. “If you love what you do, why should I stop? I like it, so let’s go.”
Guardiola’s contract is due to expire next summer and so, as it stands, the new season will be his last as City boss. This is a situation he has reached twice before, only to sign a new deal in the winter.
In 2020 it really felt like things were petering out and that it might even have been the right time to step away, only for him and his team to roar back. They have won every Premier League title since, and so when he renewed his deal during the 2022 World Cup, it did not feel like such a shock.
At this point you could be forgiven for thinking he will go on forever (if he did not walk away after winning the treble, or four titles in a row, when will he?) and the way he is talking during this pre-season trip to the United States it would not be a surprise if he signed a new deal again, even if the conversations being had behind the scenes suggest we are in fact entering the end game.
“I know maybe I was not correct to say when we won the Premier League (that I am closer to leaving than staying), but I am saying that I have been eight years at Man City and I will not be here eight more years, that is why I am closer to leave than stay,” he said. “But I didn’t say I am leaving.
“Never ever. When I am leaving I will say I am leaving. But I didn’t say. That was my approach, maybe I was not correct to say that but that was my feeling right now. We spoke with the club and said it’s a lot of years so we will see what will happen but I am not ruling out absolutely to extend the contract.
“When I said I would love to stay (on Thursday) it’s because I would love to stay. So that’s why, I want to (see) my feelings, I want to see my players. Nine years today in the same club is an eternity.
“I want to be sure it’s the right decision, not just for me but for the club, the right decision for the players. If they run like they already ran for eight years, no matter the competition, the tournament, this is what I have to see and that’s all.
“But I am pretty sure eight more years I will not stay because I think it’s good to refresh the players and managers, but at the same time we had success, still winning the Premier League, still arriving to the late stages and when we are defeated in big tournaments, the Champions League, the way we are beaten… This is my feeling right now.”
All we can be sure about right now, then, is that these questions are likely to keep coming until there is official confirmation either way.
Confirmation of a new contract would take care of itself: no further questions. Confirmation of his departure, though, would pose all sorts of implications. When would it be announced? How would it be announced? How would the players react?
There is also the complication that City are due to participate in the new Club World Cup next summer, which runs from the middle of June until the middle of July, which is actually after Guardiola’s contract expires.
If this was his last season in charge, would that be the best way for him to go, to win one more trophy to add to his incredible collection? Or would it be better for his replacement to get to grips with the players early, due to the fact they will need to rest until the start of August, before the new season starts again?
Guardiola was asked about the Club World Cup, actually, and if he sounded uncertain it was only because he has seen FIFPro, the global players’ union, mount a legal challenge about FIFA’s scheduling of the football calendar, specifically regarding next summer’s competition.
“I would love to,” Guardiola said. “I don’t know if it is going to be played because I know the mess about FIFA and the clubs or whatever, because everybody defends his position, but if at the end, apparently it is going to happen, I would love to.”
And due to the circumstances around Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool — it is widely said, even if not necessarily true, that his announcement in January caused their season to derail — Guardiola was also asked if he has given any consideration to how he will step aside, whenever the time comes.
The long-running rivalry between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola ended when the Liverpool manager left his job at the end of last season (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
“I have not given it consideration because I didn’t decide I’m leaving!” he smiled.
“When I decide it’s over, first of all I speak to my sporting director, my chairman and my CEO, that’s the first thing. I would never do one step without my team and my club knowing it. I am incredibly grateful. I wouldn’t want to take a step that could cause a problem in the way I do it.
“What happens is we will talk. I don’t know what is the best. It doesn’t mean doing it in that way is perfect or doing it the other way is perfect. Or maybe in a few months I say extend the contract. What I said at the beginning of the season is, at the start of the season, see how everything is going, how connected we are all together again and after we will see.”
We will have to wait and see, indeed, but that will not stop the questions. Knowing Guardiola, he will keep us updated along the way.
(Top photo: Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images)
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