Pep Guardiola decision on Manchester City future decided ‘at the end of last season’ | OneFootball

A decision had already been reached on the future of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola at the end of last season, a new report has revealed.

The Catalan coach is firmly into the final 12 months of his existing Etihad Stadium agreement, and such is the concern that the ongoing campaign may be his last at the club, Manchester City supporters have began sending clear messages to him asking for him to remain.

The Premier League clash against Fulham saw a banner unveiled at the Etihad Stadium’s South Stand featuring a clear message in Guardiola’s native Catalan language reading, “Pep Guardiola – We Want You To Stay!!!”

The 54-year-old is more than aware of the love he is being shown by Manchester City fans, stating during a recent interview that he has felt the affection since day one at the club back in 2016. Guardiola said, “From day one, yeah. Definitely.

“The gratitude is immense, otherwise I would not be nine years here, it’s impossible. Of course results help. In modern football, when you don’t win they sack you, we know. They were happy to extend because we won. This is a business. It has to be like that.

“But apart from that, there are many details, many experiences I lived in these many years, daily, during games, not during games that made me feel part of this club deeply, deeply.”

However, one report has suggested that an agreement had already been reached between Pep Guardiola and Manchester City that would see him leave at the end of the ongoing season, despite there being a feeling that he may be reconsidering.

That is according to the information of sources, relayed by The Athletic’s Sam Lee, who state that it had been decided at the end of last season that Pep Guardiola would leave in the summer of 2025, when his current Manchester City contract ends.

It is however stressed that those within the Etihad Stadium will continue to try to change Guardiola’s mind, and there have been whispers he is considering it, with the report pointing towards the word from those close to him who always say, “With Pep, you never know”.

Pep Guardiola was quizzed on his Manchester City future on multiple occasions during a recent press conference, but largely rejected the opportunity to shine any light on what he intends to do come the end of the campaign.

“I fell in love since the first day I was here. What is going to happen is going to happen,” Guardiola told reporters at the City Football Academy. He continued, “I’m not going to talk about this subject. What is going to happen is going to happen.”

The feeling in some quarters is that while Manchester City would ideally like to tie down Guardiola to a new long-term agreement, they recognise that his tenure is coming to an end and would be willing to accept a rolling agreement.

As such, that would grant the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach the freedom to leave whenever he wished, with one-year agreements coming into action each campaign until he opted to bring an end to his coaching career at the Etihad Stadium.