It’s emerged in the press this week, that former Barcelona and current Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, was approached by Real Madrid to become their manager. The move reportedly happened prior to the dismissal of Rafael Benitez, which happened in January 2016.
Per Spanish journalist Marti Perarnau, Guardiola's agent was approached by Madrid over a move to the Santiago Bernabeu. The contact was made towards the end of 2015 and in the words of Perarnau, "Between November and December last year when there was an important crisis with Benitez, Real Madrid contacted his [Guardiola's] agent [Jose Maria] Orobitg, asking him if there was the possibility to talk to him looking ahead to next season [2016-17], I was there. Since the beginning, it was out of the question."
Maybe it is out of the question now but what about in the future? If Guardiola’s career to date is anything to go by, the former Spanish international will remain at current club, Manchester City, for a maximum of four years. With that in mind, in just two or three years’ time, the top clubs around Europe can prepare to bring in the man who is widely regarded as being the best coach in the game. Real Madrid, must be included in that list.
Current Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique, represented both the Catalan giants and Real Madrid. Yes, the greater length of time was spent at the Camp Nou but he was still a Real Madrid player, for a chunk of his career. Luis Figo made the move in the other direction, from Barcelona to Real Madrid in a big money move but was greeted with hatred upon his return to the Camp Nou, with a pig’s head, among other objects, being thrown at him from the stands. Other examples include Michael Laudrup and Bernd Schuster.
These are players of course, not managers, which makes the situation slightly different. However, what about Jose Mourinho? The Portuguese spent four years at Barcelona, all be it as an assistant but did not hesitate to join Real Madrid as manager, when the time came. Mourinho is not a Barcelona legend, like Guardiola but still spend time at the club.
A further issue to consider, is when Guardiola decides to leave Manchester City, what are his options going to be? Is he going to be willing to take a job at a club who are not already at the top of their domestic league, going to challenge in the Champions League and have plenty of money to spend? How about another team from his playing career, such as Roma? What a huge challenge it would be to return Roma to the top of Italian and European football, on a limited budget. Would Guardiola be up for it?
If not, only a handful of clubs remain and they are Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Real Madrid and possibly Juventus. The other option is a return to Barcelona or international management.
Guardiola has plenty to occupy his mind at Manchester City over the next few years but it will be interesting to see, exactly what his plans are for the future.