Pep Guardiola has vowed to ātake a breakā as he revealed when he is āgoing to stopā as the pressures of the Manchester City job have become evident in an interview.
Guardiola has been City boss since 2016, having taken charge of 524 matches. Thatās more than double he managed at Barcelona, where he started his management career (firstly with Barcelona B).
He began at Barcelonaās first team in 2008, his first season the 2008/09 campaign, meaning heās now coming to the end of his 16th season as a manager at the top level.
This season has not been the best, with City struggling to come close to their reputation as the best side in England over the past five years. Theyāre likely to finish third at the highest, but could potentially be as low as sixth.
Guardiola has told ESPN that when his City tenure comes to an end ā due in 2027 ā heās not going straight back into management, and may never do.
āI want people to remember me however they want,ā Guardiola told ESPN as part of the second series of āPremier League Encountersā on Disney+.
āAfter my contract with City, Iām going to stop. Iām sure. I donāt know if Iām going to retire, but Iām going to take a break. How I want to be remembered, I donāt know.
āAll 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 donāt think we should ever live thinking about whether weāre going to be remembered.
āWhen we die, our families cry for two or three days and then thatās it ā youāre forgotten. In the careers of coaches, there are good and bad ones, the important thing is that the good ones are remembered for longer.
āIāll 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 donāt know what will happen in the future and in the end that doesnāt matter.ā
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It is not clear if Guardiola plans to take a break in 2027, or if he could be convinced to extend his deal in Manchester. Given he suggested at the time of his contract extension in November 2024 that this season felt it could have been āthe last oneā, thereās no guarantee he stays any longer than heās due to.
He has previous for taking career breaks, doing so for a year between leaving Barcelona in 2012 and taking position as Bayern Munich boss the following summer.
