Pep Guardiola's Interest in Manchester United Job Revealed in New Book
A new book focusing on Pep Guardiola's first year at Bayern Munich has revealed the manager "could see himself coaching" Manchester United one day.
Author Marti Perarnau was provided free access to the former Barcelona man's initial 12 months at the Allianz Arena for the new book Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich.
During a section in which Perarnau is describing the plethora of job offers Pep received after exiting Camp Nou—Chelsea, Manchester City and AC Milan among those who failed to lure him—Guardiola makes it known that he could see himself managing two clubs.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
One, of course, was Bayern. "I like this place. I could see myself coaching here one day," said Guardiola to his old friend Manel Estiarte. The other was Manchester United, as detailed by Perarnau for the Daily Mail:
"The day after beating Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, Guardiola and Estiarte travelled to Manchester to watch their next opponent in action. It was May 4, 2011, and the pair sat together in the stands of Old Trafford watching Sir Alex Ferguson's team beat Schalke 4-1. Once again Pep had turned to his friend and said: 'I like this atmosphere. I could see myself coaching here one day.'
"
United are not mentioned as one of the teams who offered Guardiola a job. The manager's decision to join Bayern was known before Ferguson decided to retire, although the Scot highlighted his surprise to see Pep head to the Bundesliga at the time.
"I was surprised because I didn’t see it coming," said Ferguson, as reported by United's official website. "All the time the talk was about clubs in England."
When David Moyes was sacked, Guardiola's name shot to the top of the most likely successors list, despite his residency in Bavaria. At the time of writing, he is second favourite behind Ryan Giggs to succeed Louis van Gaal at the Theatre of Dreams, per Oddschecker.
Guardiola's coaching style, like Van Gaal, is defined by an intrinsic attention to detail. The Spaniard developed a brand of possession-based football that led Barcelona to 14 trophies during his four-year spell in charge.
Like Van Gaal's often cited "philosophy," Guardiola needs total control of the team and transfer budget to achieve his required results. His style has often been questioned in Germany, but Guardiola believes he "must" be able to convince his players to adapt for his tenure to be a success.
However, the 43-year-old knows he isn't exempt from making mistakes. In an alternative Perarnau snippet published by the Daily Mail, Guardiola admitted last year's Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid—including the 4-0 loss at home, the biggest of Pep's managerial career—is his worst failure to date.
"I got it wrong, man," said Guardiola. "I got it totally wrong. It's a monumental f--k-up. A total mess. The biggest f--k-up of my life as a coach."
Amusingly, it could have been so different. Guardiola jokingly suggested Ferguson may have offered him the United job prior to him agreeing a stint in Germany.
Upon meeting Fergie for dinner, Guardiola previously noted: "My English is not so good and Sir Alex spoke quickly, so sometimes I have a problem understanding him," per David McDonnell of the Mirror. "That's why maybe I didn't understand if I received an offer or not!"
Guardiola certainly has the self-belief and allure to be a future United manager. His total confidence in a system he has helped devise—that of tiki-taka—has certainly changed the way football is played over the years. Guardiola isn't afraid to make big decisions that may upset club officials, as we saw with the arrival of Spaniards Thiago Alcantara, Juan Bernat and Xabi Alonso, because he is set on living and dying by important calls.
His willingness to take responsibility is rare for an elite manager, particularly because so many are afraid to totally stamp their authority on big clubs. Both Pep and Van Gaal possess this trait, perhaps highlighting why the major jobs come calling so regularly.
It certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see Guardiola take over at Old Trafford one day—he is currently working on a project originally started by Van Gaal at Bayern, so the steps may already, ever so subtly, be in place for his future arrival.
The manager has won trophies in both of his elite jobs so far, ensuring he will always be avidly sought-after on the continent. However, United fans may feel a smidgen of excitement to know Guardiola already has the club pinned as a future destination.
