Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has talked up the possibility of Pep Guardiola remaining at the Etihad Stadium past the end of the season.
The Spaniard has just commenced his ninth season in charge of the North-West giants, looking to add to an unrivalled record in the Premier League era over that period of time.
As well as winning six top-flight titles, including the last four, Guardiola has delivered a Champions League, two FA Cups and four EFL Cups among other pieces of silverware.
However, speculation persists that Guardiola, who is now 53 years of age, is seriously contemplating taking on a new challenge at the end of the campaign.
With less than 12 months remaining on his contract, talk regarding his future will persist until it is confirmed one way or another whether he wants to reach a decade as City boss.
'He's everyone's dream manager'
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney has played down the possibility of the Football Association being able to tempt Guardiola to become the next permanent England manager.
Furthermore, he has suggested that Guardiola is still getting the same enjoyment from his role in the dugout and the training pitch as he has in previous years.
He said: "I absolutely do believe that he would be the FA's dream manager, but I believe that every single team in world football would see Pep Guardiola as their dream manager. I don't think there is a single club in the world who wouldn't let their manager go for Guardiola.
"I'm worried about it as such. I don't think Guardiola is looking at England and thinking 'I best leave Manchester City football club right now' and stop earning, if he signs an extension would be an awful lot of money. I don't think the FA would be paying him that. If City extend his contract, it will be as high as Haaland and Rodri because he is a superstar. The FA won't pay that.
"So I'm not worried in that sense. I do think that Guardiola will probably go into international management one day, but he has always said that he will stay as long as he feels happy and he gets a reaction from the players. It does feel like he is being sincere there. He is an emotional person and he judges the mood of the dressing room really well.
"For me right now in terms of his future, I'm quite confident. If you look around, there are not many places for him to go, logically. I don't know how tempted he would be with the Italian league right now. He might be, I don't know. He's not going back to Germany, he's not going back to Spain, in my personal opinion. I don't really see him being interested in PSG. Maybe I am wrong there but it doesn't feel like he would have much to prove over there.
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"You can only presume that the Premier League is the best place to be for him. By many metrics, it is the best league in the world still. I do feel that he is still getting a reaction from the players. The start of the season has been so good. The most encouraging thing for me is that it has been exciting, essentially because of the new blood in the team. I know a lot of them have been around for a while but Rico Lewis is now playing at a level that I haven't seen him play at. He has reached a bit of maturity and he is still only 19. He looks like he has gone up a level from the young player that broke into the team.
"Savinho has been an absolute breath of fresh air. Gaining a young Brazilian winger is always going to be exciting, they bring so much flair and enjoyment, and then Oscar Bobb started the season, only pre-season in the Community Shield so wonderfully.
"When you see Gundogan returning and McAtee back in the squad, and the young players and Haaland looking absolutely on fire, it just feels like everyone is responding to him. I do think, first and foremost, that he just enjoys being a coach.
"We see all the time clips behind the scenes that Guardiola looks happiest when the players are responding to him and he is enjoying being a coach. There is a famous clip when City score a goal in training and Guardiola screams Bernardo Silva's name a million times. He's like 'I love it, I love it, I love it.' I really do feel that is what gets him out of bed in the morning. He's a teacher."
New job or sabbatical?
When Guardiola left Barcelona in 2012, he made the decision to take a year-long sabbatical before eventually taking the reins at Bayern Munich a year later.
That was not the case after his stint with Bayern, with Guardiola having now been in a job at the Allianz Arena or Etihad for 11 straight years.
As such, choosing to take another sabbatical could be on the agenda if he opts for an exit from City, unless an international role ahead of the 2026 World Cup becomes available.
For now, though, City supporters are able to remain optimistic about their club retaining the legendary manager's services in the long term.
Darren Plant
