May 2, 2025, 04:00 AM ET
Pep Guardiola has told ESPN that while he does not know if he will retire from coaching when he leaves Manchester City, he is “sure” he is going to take a break from management.
The 54-year-old’s nine-year City reign is comfortably the longest coaching spell of his career — he spent four years at Barcelona and three in charge of Bayern Munich — and he signed a two-year contract extension in November that is set to keep him at the Etihad Stadium until 2027. His contract was due to expire at the end of this season.
Guardiola has delivered unprecedented success since joining City in 2016. He has led the team to six Premier League titles and delivered a maiden Champions League triumph as part of their treble-winning campaign in 2022-23.
However, this season has been a trying one for Guardiola and City. They are 21 points behind Premier League champions Liverpool and are in the midst of a fight to qualify for the Champions League next season.
City’s disastrous five-match losing streak in October and November saw them exit the Carabao Cup and effectively ended their Premier League title challenge.
Reflecting on what he describes as a “difficult” season, Guardiola admitted he could have made different decisions along the way.
“It was a year of great learning. There is not just one reason why this year was difficult, there are many details, like wrong decisions made for me. So, it has been a year of great learning for me, personally,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola’s side have somewhat recovered from their mid-season slump to where they now sit fourth in the table and will face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on May 17.
The City boss said that while their slump was greater than he could have expected, he is proud of the legacy he is building at the club.
“People think we learn more from defeats than from victories. But I also think I learn from victories,” Guardiola said.
“I knew there would be a moment when we would fall, but we fell a lot. We didn’t expect to be so far, but we can’t win them all. What we did during 10, nine years was exceptional, but now we have to sit down and learn to try to understand what we need to produce in the future.”
