Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City legacy is more complicated than you might think

It’s time to start thinking about Pep Guardiola’s legacy as he prepares to take charge of his final game at Manchester City on Sunday.

That is assuming he does actually leave City at the end of the season.

While reports say his time in charge at the Etihad is coming to an end, there has been no official announcement from the club and Guardiola refused to give a definitive answer when asked about his future after the draw at Bournemouth, telling Sky Sports: ‘I can say I have one more year of my contract.

‘It’s the conversation we’ve had for many, many years, always from my experience when you announce whatever you announce during the competition it’s a bad, bad result.

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‘So like you understand the first question I have to talk is my chairman. Because we both decide when we finish the season we will see and talk, it’s as simple as that and after we will take the decision.’

How Guardiola’s time at Manchester City will be remembered

Is he the best to ever do it?

Six Premier League titles, five League Cups, three FA Cups and a Champions League trophy in ten years isn’t bad, and there’s no other manager who changed the way football is played across the divisions as much as Guardiola has, given we now see League Two sides playing out from the back and baiting opposition presses.

There’s the famous treble in 2023, those incredible battles with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and basically everything Kevin de Bruyne did. Ederson’s insane passing, Rodri running the midfield and four league titles in a row.

Some of the football was incredible to watch and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. Who remembers Man City nil, Ronald Koeman’s Everton four back in that poor first season, those awful team selections in big Champions League games or just how awkward poor Joe Hart looked when trying to emulate Manuel Neuer with the ball at his feet?

If City lose to Aston Villa this weekend, Guardiola will end his final season with the exact same record as in his first – not exactly a good sign even if they did run Arsenal close this year.

There are lasting criticisms too. You can’t ignore the fact that there are 115 charges still hanging over City heads, relating to alleged breaches of financial rules from 2009-2018.

There’s no suggestion that Guardiola was aware of any alleged wrongdoing, but he took over in 2016 and his trophy-laden era has been built on the foundations set during those years.

What will Guardiola do next?

A break might be nice – the last one Pep took was for a sabbatical in New York after leaving Barcelona in 2013.

Guardiola doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who retires and spends his hours tending to the vegetables in his garden. He might try, but before you know it he’s off to weekend farmer’s markets and trying to break the Guinness World Record for the largest squash ever grown.

So even if his next job is as a national team manager, as reports suggest, you know he’ll be his intense self wherever he ends up.

As for Man City? Enzo Maresca may look like Guardiola but only time will tell as to whether he can deliver like him too.

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