**After Pep Guardiola’s decision to step down as Manchester City manager, a number of rumours have emerged about the Catalan’s long-term future in football, with some very lucrative deals already being on the table for the 55-year-old.**
Guardiola has decided to end his time in the Premier League after almost exactly one decade in charge of City. He has led the club to 20 major trophies, including six Premier Leagues and one UEFA Champions League, whilst also breaking an innumerable number of records in both the domestic and continental spheres.
The Spaniard’s departure had been rumoured a number of times before 2026, with reports of his potential desire to leave surfacing as early as 2019, when he was rumoured to want to return to Spain.
However, Guardiola signed contract extensions on a number of notable occasions and will be remembered as one of the finest managers to ever grace the dugout in English football.
Although a draw against AFC Bournemouth in midweek means that City have nothing to play for going into the final day of the Premier League season, the Cityzens will be highly motivated to end the campaign on a positive note in homage to their much-beloved manager.
With Guardiola’s former assistant Enzo Maresca being strongly rumoured to be his successor at the Etihad Stadium, the attention of the football world has turned to what the Catalan will do next. Guardiola already has his immediate future sorted, as he will remain part of the City Football Group as a Global Ambassador, but could he return to management in the long-term?
According to [Àlex Calaff](https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/futbol-internacional/guardiola-agita-mercado-arabia-le-130505428), a number of international federations are already looking to initiate contact with Guardiola, who has previously said he would be interested in managing an international team at some point in his career.
The two nations that have expressed the most interest in hiring Guardiola thus far are the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, two nations that are still developing in footballing terms, but have immense financial backing.
Calaff reports that Saudi Arabia, who are set to enter their third consecutive world cup this summer, are preparing a package which could see Guardiola earn up to €90 million (£77 million) per season whilst in charge of the country.
Another nation, further along in their footballing project than the aforementioned countries, interested in securing the services of Guardiola is Morocco.
They burst onto the world footballing scene during the 2022 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament as they beat Belgium, Spain (on penalties) and Portugal. But they head into this tournament with another wildcard coach in the form of former under-23’s manager Mohamed Ouahbi.
England, who have previously been interested in Guardiola, also have the Spaniard on their shortlist of potential candidates should Thomas Tuchel underperform in North America.
But Calaff reports that Guardiola will take at least a one-year sabbatical following his departure from Manchester in order to recharge and step away from the limelight.
This could mean that he misses out on any highly coveted jobs that become available after the World Cup, but he will have no shortage of suitors whenever he does decide to step back into the managerial arena.