Man City exit on the cards for Guardiola this summer as ‘gamble that attracts him’ is revealed | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola could choose to leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season for the Italy national team, according to reports.

The Citizens have had incredible sustained success under the Catalan manager with Man City winning 19 major honours since Guardiola arrived in 2016.

There have been rumours in the past that Guardiola would leave but the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has always ended up staying or signing a new contract.

However, this time it feels more likely with Guardiola likely to leave at the end of this season or when his contract expires in the summer of 2027.

And now Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport has revealed that Guardiola could be tempted to swap Man City for the ‘gamble that attracts him’ as Italy national team boss.

The report suggests that Man City will not stand in Guardiola’s way if he chooses to leave this summer: ‘Guardiola has complete freedom to choose his future, whether to stay or leave: City owes everything to the Catalan manager and will accept his decision wholeheartedly.’

Gazzetta Dello Sport, who suggest Guardiola ‘will be happy to listen’ to Italy’s proposal, add:  ‘Another thing that’s certain is that if he leaves City, the Santpedor manager’s first objective is to slow down. Pep is less stressed than a year ago, when he racked his brains searching for seemingly impossible solutions.’

That idea of slowing down could certainly help Italy’s case to make him their new head coach, after their disastrous World Cup qualification campaign, with a national team job definitely less demanding in between tournaments.

Italy are without a head coach after Gennaro Gattuso was sacked for failing to qualify for the World Cup and former Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci is backing a plan to bring in Guardiola.

Bonucci said; “Time is the only miracle solution, and if radical change is desired, Pep is the man for the job. It’s difficult, but dreaming is free.

“The important thing is to rebuild Italian football from the ground up, starting with the defence.

“We must have the courage to face the situation head-on in order to regain the respect of the entire world and become that great team that was once world champion.”

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Could the Man City boss end up in the Middle East?

We brought news back in February that interest is mounting from the Middle East in Guardiola with Qatar emerging as a serious contender to lure the legendary manager back to the region.

Doha-based Al-Ahli, where Guardiola played for a couple of years, is one of the clubs understood to be interested in luring him to the Middle East.

Our transfer insider Graeme Bailey also revealed in April that Man City are quietly putting contingency plans in place for life after Guardiola.

Director of football, Hugo Viana, is leading the search for the ideal candidate with six names on their shortlist, including former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany.

Noel Gallagher names his favourite Guardiola side

TNT Sports‘ commentator Darren Fletcher has interviewed Noel Gallagher on all things Man City this week with the Oasis star picking out his greatest team under Guardiola.

When asked about Guardiola’s greatest team at Man City, Gallagher replied: “He’s had two great teams. The one with 100 points which won the domestic treble [2018/19 season] and all that. And then there’s the treble winning team [of 2023], they’re two of the greatest teams to have done it.

“Statistically, the 100 pointing bears that out and the trophies for this for the treble-winning team. And how then he gets this team up to win four-in-a-row is possibly the better achievement.

“When we’re saying about keeping a team boiling until the end and until they win 100 points is one thing. Imagine coming back into training after winning the treble and then your boss is just like ‘You haven’t done anything’ and they’re straight back at it. To do four in a row, that’ll never be done in our lifetime again.”