Pep Guardiola is gearing up for another season where he’ll try to lead Manchester City back to the Premier League mountaintop.
Though it might not seem like it, it’ll be Guardiola’s 10th season on the touchline of the blue side of Manchester, by far his longest tenure at a single club. Still, to this day he frequently states that Barcelona remains the club of his life, prompting many to believe he’ll one day return to the team where he debuted both as a player and manager.
However, Guardiola has seemingly shut down any possibility of a return. Speaking in an interview with GQ, the Catalonia native touched on a variety of subjects, including if he’d like another chapter at the club where it all started.
“It’s over. It’s over forever,” Guardiola admitted. “It was very beautiful but it’s over.”
When asked if he’d consider returning but this time as Barcelona’s president, his answer was even more severe: “No! I’m useless for that.”
The answers are gut-punches to all Barcelona fans who remained hopeful of one day seeing the most successful manager in club history return home.
During his tenure as manager from 2008—2012, Guardiola and Barcelona won everything there was to be won, including two Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles in four years. But perhaps even more memorable is the manner in which they achieved it. Guardiola’s Barcelona will forever live in history as one of the greatest teams—if not the greatest—of all time.
Over a decade has passed since. Now, Guardiola is entering his 10th season with Man City looking to reclaim the Premier League crown from Liverpool to add a seventh English top-flight trophy to his already packed resumé.
At 54-years-old, Guardiola has managed Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Man City for 16 seasons, winning a league title in 12 of those terms. He’s got two seasons left on his current deal with City, but he recognizes he’s reaching the end of his tenure. What comes next? A well deserved break.
“I know that after my tenure with City I’ll stop. That’s decided, more than decided,” Guardiola revealed. “I don’t know if it’ll be two, three, five, 10, 15 years. But after City I’ll stop, I need to concentrate on myself, on my body. So I think my plan right now is that, to stop... and then we’ll see.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pep Guardiola Gives Brutally Honest Verdict on Potential Barcelona Return.