It's fair to say Pep Guardiola is suffering the worst period of his managerial career. Having guided Manchester City to four straight Premier League titles and six of the last seven crowns, City are well off the pace in 2024/25.
City have lost nine of their last 12 games in all competitions and are 12 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League, sitting in seventh place after 17 games.
The run of form has led to plenty of speculation around his immediate future at the club, with Liverpool fans mocking him that he was getting "sacked in the morning" at the end of their 2-0 win at Anfield.
Guardiola did, however, put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension at the Etihad Stadium. His deal had been due to expire at the end of this season prior to that signing.
That means we have at least one more year of the Spaniard in the Premier League, providing he is not sacked before then, but what will his next move be? The likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, who will be challenging City for the Premier League title, will be glad to see the back of him, with an undoubted transition period to come in the wake of his departure.
That will be even more the case with the 115 financial charges hanging over City's head too that a new manager will have to deal with.
Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes the Spain national team is where Guardiola will end up next. Speaking to Boyle Sports about Premier League Betting, Hamann said: "Pep has won everything in club football, but the one club he hasn’t managed is Real Madrid and for every coach, that is a huge thing.
"He is a Barcelona man, though, and I’m not sure he’d want that and he’s from Catalonia - though to be fair it's every club's dream to manage them.
"With the national team, he hasn’t got that daily interaction which he clearly loves and you only get players for ten days a month. However, I do think the national team is most likely.
"If he says he won’t manage another team, then it makes sense, as it’s a stressful job being a Premier League boss."