A few weeks ago, Pep Guardiola was on a zoom call at the invitation of a Brazilian investment bank, he was one of several experts who talked about this and that. Famous names were on the list of speakers, it was a so-called premium panel, in addition to Guardiola, Hillary Clinton was also a guest. Zoom calls at the invitation of Brazilian investment banks are usually nothing that should keep you busy for a long time, especially not weeks afterwards, but Pep Guardiola rarely appears outside of press conferences; on the one hand. On the other hand, he said a few words on the occasion that have been at the top of the list of football topics in England ever since. It can be assumed that they will not go away anytime soon.
“After seven years with this club, I think I need a break,” he was quoted afterwards, and he also wanted to train a national team, that was “the next step”. Since then, the question has been how he meant it, with the time-out, and what follows from it. His contract with Manchester City ends in 2023. So: Will Guardiola leave after the end of next season? And then stop as a club coach altogether? No, no, said Guardiola, 50, a few days later, that’s not how he meant it. He doesn’t even know how long he’s head coach at City, that could be two months or five years, anything is possible in this business. He will only take a break when he leaves Manchester. Be sure of that.
The question of how long the premium club Manchester City can keep its premium pep is not entirely unimportant, which is why it is being discussed again these days, especially before the Champions League game against RB Leipzig this Wednesday (9 p.m.) ). Much more realistic than Guardiola’s relativization is likely to be that he actually meant it as he said with that zoom call, at least that’s what the industry assumes. It is even conceivable that Guardiola’s last coach in the Premier League this season. That would mean: It would also be his last chance as a coach to win the Champions League without Lionel Messi.
Guardiola won the Champions League twice with Barcelona and Messi – but only with Barcelona
The years in Barcelona established Guardiola’s reputation as a top coach, he further consolidated it in Munich and Manchester. To say that he is ambitious does not fully apply: Guardiola is obsessed with this sport, in Munich comrades reported in amazement how the coach sat in his office on Säbener Strasse at night and analyzed match records. It’s hard to imagine that a coach with 30 titles won can have a flaw, but that’s exactly how he sees it. Pep Guardiola is not only obsessed, but also incredibly vain. In Munich, while the team got the suits from a German men’s tailor, which are not exactly known as junk goods, he had his own suit outfitter, which was not only for monetary reasons.
Pep Guardiola has worked as a coach for some of the best clubs in the world, and in Manchester he has the luxury that money plays a subordinate role. So far, he has won the Champions League twice with Barcelona, but only with Barcelona, with a team of wonders like few in football history, and which he did not put together himself. If he didn’t make it with Manchester again, it would be more than a little thorn for him. It would be someone who got hooked so badly that you couldn’t get him out.
Guardiola wanted Harry Kane – and got Jack Grealish, the first £ 100m player in the Premier League
Too often in the past few years he wanted to create something special when it came to the big European stage: He wanted a pep moment in which the whole world was amazed at what the genius has now thought of again, so people say in his environment . There is no question that Pep Guardiola can put together and lead teams that can play outstanding football and win championships even without players such as Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. He has a more than sizeable squad available in Manchester, to which England international and fan favorite Jack Grealish was added in August, for a £ 100m transfer fee to Aston Villa. That was the amount of the release clause in his contract – plus an alleged ten million pound bonus to Grealish’s father and his consultancy agency Stellar Sports. Grealish is now the most expensive player a Premier League club has ever bought. The UK media likes to mention it: Grealish, first £ 100m player to run, Grealish, first £ 100m player to score. Grealish, Guardiola’s first £ 100m player.
At the end of the transfer period Guardiola wanted to get Harry Kane from Tottenham, absolutely – by the way, unlike Cristiano Ronaldo, whom Guardiola never wanted, according to reports there were not even negotiations. Kane, the captain of the English national team, stayed in Tottenham after all, which was noted with astonishment in England. It is rather unusual that Guardiola and City owner Sheikh Mansour do not get a player. Guardiola recently said that his club had “tried everything”, “but if only one club wants to negotiate, there is not much to say”.
Even without Kane, Guardiola’s team is good enough to win the title, a team like Leipzig shouldn’t be a major obstacle, not least because of Grealish, who made a decent start in Manchester. Tommy Elphick, Grealish’s former teammate at Aston Villa, recently told football magazine FourFourTwoGuardiola is known as “the absolute god of football” and it is interesting to see “what he can do with Jack”. Whether Pep Guardiola will turn 100 million pound dribbler Jack Grealish into a successful footballer by titles will be a question that will be with both of them over the next few months, Grealish and Guardiola.
Whether – and how quickly. Grealish, who has never played in the Champions League, was 26 years old a few days ago, so he still has a bit of time. With Pep Guardiola this is no longer so certain.
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