A huge shock
Pep Guardiola has made a huge career announcement that has shocked fans everywhere as he eyes a completely new role in the future.
Pep has enjoyed almost a decade of trophy-laden success in Manchester, leading Man City to six Premier League titles, including a treble.
However, the club is going through a rough patch, after only winning just one game in their last eight in all competitions, despite Guardiola agreeing to a new two-and-a-half year deal last month.
Now, speaking in an exclusive interview with Spanish chef Dani Garcia, Guardiola provided a major update on his future as he dropped the bombshell that he will not join any other club after leaving City.
He said: “I’m not going to manage another team, I’m not talking about the long-term future but what I’m not going to do is leave Man City, go to another country, and do the same thing as now.
“I wouldn’t have the energy… The thought of starting somewhere else, all the process of training and so on… No, no, no! Maybe a national team, but that’s different.
“I should stop, like these chefs that go to other countries, stop and see what we’ve done well and what we could do better and when you’re busy all day, day after day you don’t have time to do that.
“I want to leave it and go and play golf but I can’t. I think stopping would do me good.”
Guardiola went onto open up about his future in the game.
He said: “I’m still young and when I stop, there’s several things I want to do.
“One of them is to learn French, dedicate my free time to myself so I can play golf and then begin to learn how to cook simple things.”
The 53-year-old admitted he finds it hard to deal with when his side are struggling to win games.
“The starting point with coping with the problems of defeat would be being with people, your family basically,” he said.
“But no-one can really console the loneliness of the football manager. You have people beside you but the bad decisions, why have I done that, it’s gone wrong because I did this, I didn’t push them enough….the pain of the defeat, you feel it alone.
“You might have friends around you, but when you close that bedroom door and turn off the light there’s no consolation.
“You have to let one or two days pass and then start again. Golf helps me.
“One of the best therapies I have is when the Augusta Masters or one of the major tournaments comes round from Thursday to Sunday and I prepare my matches at home or here in Tast (Guardiola’s Spanish restaurant in Manchester).
“I look at our rival and the images I want to take but always with the golf on in the background.”
One of the biggest blow to the City squad has been the injury to Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.
Guardiola admitted the Spaniard is a big miss to the squad.
“He’s been voted the best player in the world and of course we miss him,’ he said.
“Imagine a scenario where Messi has just been voted best player in the world and we’re having to play without him for a whole year.
“I don’t think we would have won the treble or the sextuple without them. These players are unique and they show that uniqueness especially in the bad times, when games are going against you.
“Rodri is at another level in that respect so of course we miss him. But time passes quickly and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger.”
City currently sit fourth in the Premier League after 15 games, eight points behind Liverpool.
City play Juventus on Wednesday night in the Champions League.
