Pep Guardiola will be offered chance to manage national team when he leaves Manchester City: Reports
The last couple of weeks have observed an increase in speculation around Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and his next destination. The Spaniard is in his sixth year of management with the Premier League club. Under him, the club have experienced great joy at the domestic level in England.
Guardiola signed an extension to his contract a year ago and the new deal runs out in the summer of 2023. The club will always be grateful to their current boss who converted them from an exciting team into the English superpower. The Etihad side have won three Premier League titles since the Spaniard's arrival.
They have won the Carabao Cup four consecutive times and this will be their first season missing out on the trophy since 2017. But Guardiola was primarily brought in to make Manchester City a serious challenger in the Champions League.
Last season, they were inches away from realizing their dream, having reached their first final in the tournament. A narrow 1-0 loss to Chelsea saw their dream go unfulfilled. The Spaniard's situation at the club has always been closely monitored and he has always spoken with clarity.
Guardiola has made no secret of his ambitions to manage an international side. Recent reports from the Sunday Mirror suggest that the Dutch FA are interested in his services and would love to appoint him as coach of the Netherlands side.
Having overseen the most successful era in Manchester City's history, the boss had previously hinted that he would like to take a break before deciding on his next job. But the Dutch FA seem to have decided that the Spaniard could be the right man to put in charge of the matters and are initiating negotiations.
Man City have now scored 520 PL goals in 212 games under Pep Guardiola.
It took Alex Ferguson 274 matches to reach the same total.
Levels.' https://t.co/Ev82d0XsiR
Surely this will be a very teasing opportunity for Pep Guardiola to coach a country that played the mesmerizing Total Football system developed by his idol Johan Cruyff. The City boss has always spoken very highly of the Dutchman.
It was under Cruyff's tutelage that the Spaniard developed into a great deep-lying midfielder and became a pivotal part of the Barcelona side. He once said,
“I knew nothing about football before knowing Cruyff.”
Guardiola can become the Dutch manager after his reign at Manchester City ends
Various international FAs have kept tabs on Guardiola for some time now and would be delighted to have him on board. Back in 2018, it was reported that Argentina were interested in his services, but the Manchester City boss continued with the Premier League champions.
It is almost certain that the Spaniard will not manage his own national side because he has always spoken about and sided with Catalan independence. Louis van Gaal is currently in charge of the Dutch team and this is his third spell with the national side.
After Frank de Boer failed with his project at the Euros last year and Holland crashed out in the knockout phases, van Gaal had to come out of retirement. Under the 70-year old, the Oranje managed to successfully qualify for the 2022 World Cup, but the veteran will step down after the tournament.
Manchester City have won 12+ Premier League games in a row four times under Pep Guardiola:
◉ Aug 2017-Dec 2017: 18 games
◉ Feb 2019-Aug 2019: 15 games
◉ Dec 2020-Mar 2021: 15 games
◉ Nov 2021-Jan 2022: 12 games
Ridiculous. 👏 https://t.co/5AaWJ4nxep
By then, Guardiola will be in the final six months of his contract with the Premier League side and about to become a free agent. It will be interesting to see whether the Spaniard takes a brief pause before moving into his new job or takes over the reigns of his mentor's country immediately.