If Pep Guardiola really knew he would leave Manchester City at the end of the season, he would not tell anyone either.
Senior sources at the Etihad Stadium are all well aware of the increasingly dense speculation about Guardiola's future. The 55-year-old captain is said to be considering - if not to say completely leaning towards - the possibility of ending his term in the summer of 2026. But even those closest to the center of power of Man City also affirm that they cannot be sure.
Sources close to SEG - Guardiola's representative company run by his brother, Pere - said that all information related to the future of the Catalan coach is always absolutely confidential, and this time is no exception.
However, in the football world, there are still rumors, mainly stemming from exchanges between CEOs, agents and players in many clubs, that Guardiola may be about to end his coaching career.
Guardiola still has 16 months left in the contract signed in November 2024. However, everything has gone to the point that no one would be surprised if he chooses to terminate the contract one year early and leave in the summer of 2026.
Contract situation
In the past decade, few things have made Guardiola more uncomfortable than questions about his own future. As a coach obsessed with the process of creating victory, he always sees all the outside noise as a distracting factor.
Therefore, Guardiola often tries to finalize the issue early by extending it in November of the last year, to avoid the second half of the season being overshadowed by uncertainty. However, when he signed his latest contract in November 2024, many people were surprised that the term was 2 years, instead of one year as usual.
At that time, many opinions suggested that Guardiola would only extend for 12 months, extending until the summer of 2026 - exactly the 10-year milestone since he left Bayern Munich to come to Etihad in 2016. The contract being extended to 2027 surprised some people inside City, and also raised the question of whether that extension period is a "cushion" to create a sense of certainty or not.
When asked about his future in early January this year, Guardiola continued to evade: "I have a contract. I have said this millions of times. I have been here for 10 years. One day I will leave, but I have a contract".
Changes in mood
Although there has long been a feeling that Guardiola may stop in the summer of 2026, that feeling is further strengthened by a clear mood change in recent weeks.
Everything started after the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle, when Antoine Semenyo's goal was disallowed by VAR. Guardiola was upset with the quality of the referee - something that is not usually seen in him, because Guardiola rarely publicly criticizes the referee after a draw or loss.
However, after the 2-0 victory at St James' Park, he comfortably mentioned the mistakes that he believed appeared in the defeat to Newcastle in the Premier League 6 weeks earlier. Not stopping there, Guardiola also recalled the decision not to issue a red card to goalkeeper Dean Henderson in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace in May.
He continued to complain about the referee after the 2-0 victory over Wolves. And before the second leg against Newcastle, Guardiola unexpectedly talked a lot about a series of issues - from transfer spending of rivals in the Premier League to current affairs stories at the press conference.
Guardiola also started to show a different version. Sometimes joking, sometimes calling the reporter's name directly, even surprisingly answering more questions at the end of the press conference when Man City's media department was trying to close the exchange. If he really realizes that these could be the last months, then Guardiola is taking advantage of every moment.
Guardiola's frustration with the referee reminded many people of Sir Alex Ferguson's reaction after Nani's red card in the match against Real Madrid in 2013. This was a match that contributed to Manchester United being eliminated from the Champions League.
Ferguson was then said to be "painful" to the point of refusing a press conference, and later, people saw him sad because they believed that a referee's mistake had taken away the last chance for him to conquer the Champions League before leaving Old Trafford.
