"Life goes on, the earth continues to spin" - Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City won't collapse when he leaves the club
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola recently opened up about his future at the club. He asserted that the eight-time Premier League champions would not falter when he eventually chooses to conclude his time at the Etihad.
There have been speculations that Guardiola is nearing his final days at Manchester City. The Spanish manager’s current contract will expire next summer and he has yet to sign a new deal.
Rumors of Guardiola’s possible exit from the Manchester club grew stronger following the imminent exit of the club’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain. Begiristain, who is a close ally of Guardiola, is set to leave Manchester City at the end of the 2024-25 season.
The pair also worked in a similar role at Barcelona and have been instrumental to City’s success over the years. While Guardiola is still tied to the Cityzens pending a new contract, he is confident the club will find stability even after his exit.
Speaking with the Guardian (via Tribal Football), the 53-year-old manager said:
“I am quite sure that it (stability) will be here. I know how it works. It would be a bad sign for the club, if everything slows down after one person leaves.”
He continued:
“It (stability) will be there, definitely. They (the management) will maybe make mistakes, but they will also solve these.”
"With Txiki (Begiristain), who is leaving after twelve years, and with me, it is normal that it looks like we cannot leave, but it is clear that we can move on. Life goes on. The earth continues to spin,” Guardiola concluded.
Manchester City have become a force to reckon with domestically and on the continent since Guardiola took over the reins at the club. Since joining in 2016, he has led the Cityzens to 18 titles, including four consecutive league titles and a continental treble in 2023.
How has Guardiola performed at Manchester City?
Pep Guardiola is arguably Manchester City’s greatest and most successful manager of all time. Since his arrival at the Etihad in 2016, he has transformed the club to become one of the heavyweights domestically and in Europe.
However, it didn’t begin all rosy for the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager. In his first year in England, Guardiola finished the season without a trophy (2016-17). He won his first trophy (the EFL Cup) the following season and capped it with his first league title win.
Since then, he has failed to win the league just once, losing the title to Liverpool in the 2019-20 season. In 2021, he led Manchester City to their first-ever UEFA Champions League final but lost to fellow Premier League side Chelsea (1-0).
However, two seasons later, Guardiola etched his name as one of the greatest managers in football folklore. He led City to a continental treble, becoming only the second Premier League manager to do so after Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999. Additionally, he became the only manager to achieve the feat with two clubs as he previously won a continental treble with Barcelona in 2009.