Pep Guardiola has been told to “look for a new project” by a close ally who left Manchester City in the summer as the ‘expectation’ on the FFP verdict has been revealed.
Guardiola will have been at City for a decade if he sees out his contract, which expires in the summer of 2027, having become one of the most decorated managers in Premier League history.
He’s won 13 major titles in his time at the Etihad, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2022/2023.
READ MORE: Who will replace Pep Guardiola as Manchester City manager?
The Catalan oversaw a dramatic dip in form last season, which saw them finish third behind champions Liverpool and Arsenal, and they are outsiders to win the Premier League this season having become a team so reliant on Erling Haaland and his goals.
Guardiola is expected to see out his contract, but his former performance analyst Carles Planchart, who collaborated with the coach for 18 years across stints at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City before departing his role at the end of last season, believes he should seek “a new project” after some time out to “regenerate”.
“It’s a personal decision he’ll have to make. I think a project should last five or six years, no more,” Planchart told SPORT. “But not for him, for everyone. Afterward, you have to regenerate. As a friend, I would tell him to look for a new project because he still has a long way to go.
“This is why he’s been at City for so many years: they’ve treated us like family, they’ve let us work as if we were at home. He didn’t feel that way at Barca or Bayern.
“He’s a football fanatic. His life is on the green, on the grass. He’s a genius, a creator. His greatest strength is how he invents football. The difficult thing in this life is creating; the rest of us are copycats. He’s number one at this.”
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Doubts were raised over Guardiola’s ability to rebuild a City side which has seen several of its world class players either depart or suffer from the effects of years at the highest level in the last couple of seasons.
Reflecting on last season, Planchart said: “Sometimes you lack energy, and when you get into a bad dynamic, it’s hard.
“In football, you always have to be at 100%. We had injuries, people were at the end of their careers. There was a drop in performance, even among the staff.
“The lack of energy forced us to fight just to get into the Champions League, and it was an achievement. We also lost the cup final; it was punishment for a poor season.”
Guardiola’s future at City could depend on the verdict of the hearing into their 115 FFP charges.
The 12-week hearing started all the way back in September 2024 but we’re still waiting for the outcome amid suggestions City could be docked points or even relegated as punishment if found guilty.
According to Mirror, we may not have to wait too much longer.
The report claims ‘senior Premier League figures are said to be expecting a decision over Manchester City’s 115 charges to land at some point this month’.