“If they need me, I will be there” – Pep Guardiola makes Man City return promise as ambassador role begins | OneFootball

Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered a heartfelt message to the club’s supporters, insisting he will return to the Etihad Stadium one day and that Manchester City remains “something special” in his life.

Pep Guardiola ended his decade-long tenure at Manchester City at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, departing as the most decorated manager in the club’s history having delivered six Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies and a historic domestic Treble across a period that fundamentally redefined how the club is regarded both domestically and across world football.

The Catalan’s exit prompted a period of emotional reflection at the Etihad Stadium and beyond, with supporters grappling with the reality of life without the manager who had shaped not just results but the entire identity of the club over the better part of the last decade.

Guardiola’s words in his interview with OKX will therefore carry enormous weight among a fanbase still adjusting to the new era under Enzo Maresca, with the former manager’s promise to return – in whatever capacity – offering a degree of comfort and continuity that the circumstances of his departure had left somewhat open.

His comments also reveal a man who is watching the new chapter at the Etihad Stadium unfold with genuine interest, warmth and more than a trace of his characteristic wit – with the image of Guardiola and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak watching games together in Abu Dhabi one of the more entertaining that has emerged from any interview this summer.

Guardiola: “ManCity for me is something special in my life”

Speaking to OKX, Guardiola was characteristically direct and open about his intentions for the future, offering a promise that will resonate long after the interview itself fades from the news cycle.

“I will be behind-the-scenes, yes or yes,” said Guardiola. “If they need me, I will be there. Manchester City for me is something special in my life. One day, of course, I will be back at the Etihad Stadium. But now I want to be behind-the-scenes. If they need me, the new manager, of course we’ll talk – it’s not a problem. But they have to do their own path.”

Asked whether he would watch matches, Guardiola was emphatic before introducing the caveat that only he could deliver with such perfect comic timing: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! I don’t know. If I’m on hole No.14 on the golf course, maybe I’ll finish the four holes left. But if the timing is there, of course. The important games, I will watch!”

The former manager then shared a glimpse into his relationship with Al Mubarak that will bring a smile to supporters who have witnessed the closeness between the two men throughout their time together at the club: “I’m pretty sure if I’m in Abu Dhabi, Khaldoon will call, ‘Come on, let’s watch together!’ That’s one thing I want to do, see how they criticise the new manager like they criticised me in the last 10 years! Always I spoke about that with Khaldoon, ‘How you punished me, how you criticised me there!'”

The self-deprecating humour around the criticism he received masks what is, at its core, a deeply sincere set of sentiments – a manager who left not because the love for the club had diminished but because the time had come and who is now watching from a distance with the same investment he brought to every match from the dugout.

What do Guardiola’s words mean for Manchester City going forward?

The promise to remain “behind-the-scenes” and to be available to Maresca should the new manager need him is a significant one, speaking to a continuity of relationship between outgoing and incoming manager that the club have been keen to foster throughout the transition – with Maresca himself having served under Guardiola during the Treble season before going on to develop his own managerial identity at Leicester City and Chelsea.

The offer of availability, however carefully hedged with references to golf courses and Abu Dhabi schedules, confirms that the relationship between Guardiola and the club’s hierarchy remains as strong as it has ever been – and that director of football Hugo Viana and the club’s leadership regard the Catalan not as a figure from a closed chapter but as an ongoing presence whose counsel and experience remain an asset.

For Maresca, navigating the inevitable comparisons with his predecessor will be one of the defining challenges of his tenure, and Guardiola’s pointed joke about waiting to see the new manager “criticised like they criticised me” carries a knowing acknowledgement that no manager at the Etihad Stadium escapes the scrutiny that comes with the weight of expectation that City’s decade of success has generated.

Whether Guardiola’s return – in whatever behind-the-scenes form it ultimately takes – is months or years away remains uncertain, but the clarity and sincerity of his promise leaves no room for doubt that Manchester City has not seen the last of the man who made it what it is – and that when the time comes, he will return exactly as he said.