Ferran Soriano spent his Tuesday night sat in the dark, and that is how Pep Guardiola has kept the football world over his future.
Manchester City’s CEO and his fellow executives may not have liked the uncertainty of allowing their manager – the best in the world at what he does, as the documentary Soriano was watching showed as news broke of Guardiola’s decision – to run down his contract but the reward was worth the risk. Once again, patience and perseverance have been rewarded with City keeping their manager into a tenth and possibly 11th year.
The expectation at the end of last season, both from people at the club who would know and from those who knew Guardiola, was that he would leave the club in 2025. He had broken new ground in the Premier League, claimed the club’s first Champions League, and after eight years of going every single day he was understandably shattered.
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Succession plans were considered and evaluated again, but the number one target was always to keep Guardiola. As late as October, there was still no certainty for Ruben Amorim that he could follow Hugo Viana in summer and the talented Sporting coach opted for United instead.
October was also a significant month for the City manager because the FA decided to hire Thomas Tuchel as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor. Guardiola had been approached about the job in the summer following Southgate’s resignation yet could not wait forever for a decision.
It is hard to think of a more tempting job for a top manager with aspirations of managing a national team than the England squad, particularly for a coach who has spent most of the last decade engrossed in the country’s football. That group of players has the potential to win not just one major tournament but multiple with the right staff, yet it was seen as a positive at City when Guardiola didn’t jump at the chance with one of the most attractive alternatives given to somebody else.
So too when Txiki Begiristain’s departure was announced and still the manager’s mind was not made up. If he was not convinced to leave when such a trusted ally and partner was going, City’s executives grew in hope that he would change his mind from the summer and stay with the staff that have enjoyed such a strong relationship with him since his first year.
That did not make it a given, and even in the days before he decided there were still trusted friends who were certain that he was off. However, in the end the challenge won out again.
In many ways, staying at City is the easy option for Guardiola. He has the perfect working conditions and a support team designed to ensure he is working at maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
But staying at Bayern would also have been the easy choice, and the Catalan could now be in situ at the Allianz celebrating 12 consecutive Bundesligas. It would have been easy to call it a day after The Treble, or the Club World Cup.
Instead, Guardiola is again writing his own script. Those close to him believe that his version of the best possible legacy at the Etihad involves him not with a round number such as five consecutive league titles or 10 years at the helm but with a successful team that has again been rebuilt.
Where concerns were starting to grow that this season was turning into a last dance not just for the manager but for a significant chunk of his squad, Guardiola is motivated by the prospect of sticking around to build something new so that when he leaves the club it is on a high that can continue after he leaves.
Guardiola remains the star that shines brightest for City, and he has decided that he still has the energy to make sure that they remain in the light long after he is gone.
