Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hit the headlines with a sensational claim he would be willing to walk away from the club if his former club Barcelona were to call for his return to Camp Nou.
Guardiola has certainly got tongues busy wagging by opening the door to a sensational return to the Nou Camp, claiming he would walk out on Manchester City if the opportunity were to avail itself.
The City boss savored four trophy-laden years as the manager in the dugout at the Camp Nou from 2008 to 2012, winning a succession of the most coveted trophies including two Champions League titles, after having had a successful career there as a player under the watchful eyes of none other than the legendary Johan Cruyff. He had prior to this ruled out a return to Barcelona as a coach after his incredibly successful years there with the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
However, Guardiola out of the blue told reporters this week during a press conference: “If I’m training here, wherever and Barcelona calls me, I’ll go to Barcelona, it’s my club.”
Guardiola’s stunning comments were prompted after speaking highly of Mikel Arteta, who was a first-team coach in Manchester City prior to being appointed manager of the Gunners, having been a former midfielder there, with the City boss voicing the sentiment that he could empathise with Arteta’s situation.
Guardiola said of his former coach: “This boy likes Arsenal. Everyone has dreams and I know he went to his club, the club he dreamed of. He was a fan of Arsenal by playing there, he was captain and he loved that club so I did not want to oppose him. Life is too short. You have to fly.”
The City boss had previously rules out a return to Barca, saying in 2020: “I said many times: my period as a manager in Barcelona is over. I think in life there is a once in a lifetime, you have to do the things… there are incredible people who can be in charge.
“Now, for example, Ronald Koeman (Xavi is now Barca boss) is an excellent manager. It’s over. I will come back to my seats to see my club to watch the game. But it’s done. I am here, incredibly happy, and still have the desire to do well. This is the most important thing.”
It comes just days after Guardiola outlined the moment when he will decide to terminate his tenure with City, where he has been in the dugout since 2016. It is comfortably the longest managerial stint of the Catalan’s coaching career to date.
“I won four LaLiga titles in Spain when I was a player at [Barcelona], four in a row, and the fifth [season] was not the same and the sixth was not the same,” Guardiola explained to reporters, stating that he would be aware when he had lost his drive.
“I was not starving enough. [Too much] caviar, [Real] Madrid beat me. I understand [the players] but I am here to [motivate them]. The chairman knows that. I want to be here but if I lose the team, I cannot be here. We are second in the table, we are not 25 points behind Arsenal, still we are there – 57 points still to play [for].”