Pep Guardiola is preparing his team for a Champions League final tonight, with Manchester City facing off against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in Porto. His name is also in the news back home in Barcelona, however, linked with a return to the club where he made his name as both a player and a coach.
Joan Laporta isn’t convinced that Ronald Koeman is the right man to lead his project at Camp Nou into next season, and it’s been reported that his dream is for Guardiola to return as coach. The Catalan led Barcelona during Laporta’s first reign, taking over in 2008 and enjoying four trophy-laden years in situ.
He then left to pursue a career outside of Spain, coaching Bayern Munich and now City. City are in many ways a stark contrast to Barcelona right now; they’re financially unmatched, organisationally superb and in a very healthy spot both on the pitch and off it. It’s not a great surprise, therefore, that Guardiola is happy where he is and isn’t looking for a change.
“No, I’m staying,” he told Movistar in comments carried by Diario Sport when asked whether he’d consider leaving the club should they win the Champions League tonight. “No, I’m staying for sure,” he said when asked if there was any doubt there.
