Pep Guardiola reveals one first-team star at Manchester City is destined to become a manager | OneFootball

Manchester City have a player in their current ranks that seems destined to become a manager in football, according to head coach Pep Guardiola.

The latest revelation comes at a time when Manchester City are seeing a number of their former stars and employees excelling in the managerial world, most notably Arsenal’s current head coach Mikel Arteta.

The Spaniard stood alongside Pep Guardiola at Manchester City during his opening successful seasons as Etihad Stadium boss, before taking up the lead role at the Emirates and guiding the Gunners towards becoming a serious challenger for the Premier League crown.

Elsewhere, Vincent Kompany has also impressed during his managerial career with RSC Anderlecht and Burnley, guiding the latter to an outstanding 100-point season in the Championship last campaign, and subsequently promotion into the Premier League.

Now it appears as though Manchester City have a new name emerging through their system that could eventually become football’s next poster coach, as revealed by Pep Guardiola himself during a new interview.

Speaking exclusively to TNT Sports this week, Pep Guardiola admitted that Kevin De Bruyne has the qualities to become a manager in future, with the Belgian superstar currently undertaking lessons on coaching in the game.

“He can do it,” Guardiola said. “I think he is taking the lessons of being a manager and he can do it, of course. He has been with good managers and had experiences in European Cups, World Cups, Champions League… being demanding, you have to win, win, win. This is an incredible lesson.

Guardiola continued, “Of course, it depends on his passion and on what he wants to do. He has to try to think about his future as he is not, unfortunately for us, 20 years old anymore. We have known each other for many, many years.

“Of course, I like to talk with the players about what we have to do and what we are doing, yeah. I like it. When I was 25, 26, I started to think I would like to manage a team. Yeah, I started to think about it from an early age, I would say.”

Kevin De Bruyne on the field has exploded back into life since returning to competitive match action with Manchester City this season, providing three assists and a goal in his four appearances in 2024.

The Belgian superstar will play an integral role in any success Manchester City are able to generate this season, as the club moves towards a highly intense fixture list across February and March in particular.