With Pep Guardiola managing Manchester City since 2016, he is synonymous with the club.
Guardiola’s contract expires in 2027 and if he leaves at the end of his deal, City will have to find a suitable successor to his throne.
Otherwise, Manchester City could be in the same boat as Manchester United, who have gone from bad to worse since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013.
The Sky Blues would aspire to follow in the footsteps as Liverpool, who successfully replaced Jurgen Klopp with Arne Slot last season.
Roberto De Zerbi was tipped to replace Guardiola at City but considering the Italian is managing Marseille currently, it is difficult to predict whether he will become the Catalan’s heir one day.
Ilkay Gundogan suggests he could become the future Man City manager
Pep Guardiola predicted Vincent Kompany to manage City and considering the brilliant job he has done at Bayern Munich so far, it is easy to see why he would be in line to succeed the 54-year-old.
More Man City News
Ilkay Gundogan is another former Manchester City player who could venture into management in the future, with The Athletic revealing he was working towards his UEFA A license in 2024.
Writing an open letter addressed to City fans for Manchester Evening News after joining Galatasaray, Gundogan went on to suggest that he could manage them in the future.
Ilkay Gundogan in action during Nottingham Forest v Manchester City.
Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
“All the best, stay healthy and see you soon – at the very latest the end of January in the Champions League! And who knows – maybe even one more time after my active career!”
Pep Guardiola has already predicted Ilkay Gundogan’s managerial career
Guardiola backed Gundogan to become a top manager, which goes in his favour if Manchester City consider the prospect of appointing him one day.
“I think Gundogan will be a good manager. I would say for his humanity and for his personality to transmit the message, and his awareness and his knowledge about the game itself.”
Pep Guardiola added: “He has been surrounded and been training with many, many managers and good ones too, so I think Gundo will be a good manager.”