Manchester City have started planning for life after Pep Guardiola, with the future of their greatest ever manager currently still unclear.
Guardiola's contract is set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season and, despite Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak trying his level best over the summer to convince him into extending his deal, Guardiola still hasn't decided on what he is going to do.
At the end of 2023/24, after winning the Premier League for an unprecedented fourth-successive campaign, Guardiola admitted that he was "closer to leaving than to staying".
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Now, according to Sky Sports, Manchester City have started succession planning, drawing up a list of potential replacements should the 53-year-old ultimately decide to call time on his career at the club.
Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016, replacing Manuel Pellegrini as the manager. In the eight full seasons since, he has won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and multiple other trophies and accolades.
The 53-year-old has spent considerably longer at Manchester City than the previous two clubs he has worked at before, too. He managed Barcelona for four seasons between 2008 and 2012, before spending just three campaigns in charge of Bayern Munich between 2013 and 2016, following a year's sabbatical.
Now into his ninth as Manchester City manager, there's certainly potential that another contract extension is a step too far at the moment. In his time at the club, Guardiola has singed three contract extensions, with the two most recent deals only adding an extra two years each time.
The board also recognise that he can't continue forever, hence why the wheels are starting to be put into motion should he opt against another contract renewal. The report adds they want a decision made by Christmas, which does put the pressure on him further.
In FourFourTwo's view, the longer it takes for Guardiola to decide on his future, the less likely it seems he'll continue with the Premier League champions. But while they've put a Christmas deadline on him, if Guardiola says that he would like to stay on in April, it seems incredibly unlikely they wouldn't grant him that wish.
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