Pep Guardiola has urged his successor at Manchester City to “be himself” as he steps down after a glorious ten years in charge.
Guardiola waves goodbye to one of the most successful managerial reigns in English football history this weekend.
His former assistant Enzo Maresca, who was sacked as Chelsea manager in January, is the favourite to take over.
After winning 20 trophies at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola will be a tough act to follow but the Spaniard insisted his replacement should not attempt to imitate him.
Guardiola said: “The manager has to be himself, unique, and the club will be there to support him unconditionally, like they have done to me.
“It doesn’t work to copy and paste in this kind of job. Be natural, yourself. Everyone is everyone, and it has to be like that.
“That’s why everything is going to be good. I’m pretty sure with these players, the new manager, with the staff and everyone there, will do the job that is required to continue to be there.”
City are expected to splash the cash to back their new manager this summer, with Fabrizio Romano confirming in his latest Youtube video that Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson is the ‘top target’.
However, the reporter also confirmed Forest will demand a huge fee – potentially even upwards of £100m – for their star man.
|
Rank |
Player |
Fee |
Signed from |
Year |
|
1 |
Jack Grealish |
£100m |
Aston Villa |
2021 |
|
2 |
Josko Gvardiol |
£77m |
RB Leipzig |
2023 |
|
3 |
Ruben Dias |
£65m |
Benfica |
2020 |
|
4 |
Antoine Semenyo |
£64m |
Bournemouth |
2026 |
|
5 |
Omar Marmoush |
£63m |
Frankfurt |
2025 |
|
6 |
Rodri |
£62.8m |
Atletico Madrid |
2019 |
|
=7 |
Joao Cancelo |
£60m |
Juventus |
2019 |
|
=7 |
Riyad Mahrez |
£60m |
Leicester |
2018 |
|
9 |
Aymeric Laporte |
£57m |
Athletic Club |
2018 |
|
10 |
Jeremy Doku |
£55.4m |
Rennes |
2023 |
And in a boost for the Reds, City could now opt to look elsewhere for their new marquee midfielder, perhaps even to Maresca’s old club.
Man City hold internal talks over signing Chelsea star Fernandez
According to Romano, Maresca has personally giving his backing to a move for Anderson, but the other name on the shortlist is Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, who cost the Blues over £100m when he signed from Benfica in 2023.
“Man City and Enzo Maresca have already agreed on considering Elliot Anderson as a top target.
“Then they have some other names on the list in case this deal doesn’t happen, let’s see what happens with Rodri as well.
“Some players like Enzo Fernandez and more have been mentioned internally at Man City.”
Guardiola leaves the club with the Premier League’s investigation into more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations by City still unresolved.
It has been more than three years since the charges were brought against the club, who deny all wrongdoing.
Guardiola has consistently backed the club throughout the process and reiterated that support when asked why he had remained so staunch in his defence.
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He said: “I trust them because I spoke with them and I trust how they behave. There will be a resolution.
“Nobody of the staff, backroom staff, the players and manager was here. It was a long, long time ago.
“I trust them. I (asked) before what happened and they said no.”
Whether or not that impacts their pursuit of several players with massive price tags – including a World Cup winner in Fernandez – remains to be seen.