Pep Guardiola ready to return to day-to-day job after England admission and Man City exit

Pep Guardiola was pictured in Manchester city centre ahead of the return of the Premier League, with the ex-Barcelona boss able to prepare for Wolves without too many more England questions

Pep Guardiola will be able to return from the international break ready to attack the Premier League with Manchester City as they look to claim a fifth consecutive title.

The Catalan coach may even breathe a sigh of relief to field questions only on his future at City, and to avoid too many on his own links to the England job after the Three Lions appointed Thomas Tuchel. The FA however, opted to make Tuchel their top target after coming to the belief that Guardiola will extend his stay at the Etihad.

The City boss is set to see his contract expire in the summer, though club chiefs expect to know Guardiola’s decision over a new deal by January. As Mirror Football reported, the FA approached Guardiola in the summer but found that it was most likely the ex-Barcelona coach would extend his stay for another year at City.

Tuchel is said to have beaten competition from nine other candidates to win the ‘impossible job’. “As you’d understand, the whole process was confidential,” said FA chief executive Mark Bullingham at Tuchel’s unveiling press conference.

“We had to maintain that for us and the candidates. We interviewed approximately ten candidates and we interviewed English candidates within that.”

While Tuchel put pen to paper on his 18-month deal a week ago, the likes of Lee Carsley and Guardiola were left to fend off questions about their own aspirations for the role. During the international break, Guardiola has attempted to play down speculation linking him to the position.

In an appearance on Italian TV show Che Tempo Che Fa, he said: “Leaving City? It’s not true, I haven’t decided yet. And it is not even true that I will be the next England coach. If I had decided I would say it … I don’t know either, anything can happen.”

If Guardiola does extend his stay at City, it will be without the services of long-time trusted director of football Txiki Begiristain. The pair worked together briefly at Barcelona before Guardiola joined the Premier League champions in 2016.

City have confirmed Begiristain will depart at the end of the season and be replaced by from Newcastle United midfielder Hugo Viana. A statement read: “Manchester City can confirm that Txiki Begiristain will step away from his full-time role as Director of Football at the end of the 2024/25 season.

“Following a trophy-laden twelve years at the Etihad Stadium, Txiki will leave his current post following the Club’s involvement in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup and will be succeeded by Hugo Viana of Sporting CP.

“Viana will begin his full-time role in the summer of 2025, but will collaborate with Txiki in the preceding months to ensure a smooth transition. We look forward to paying tribute to Txiki’s outstanding contribution to Manchester City at the end of the season.”

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