With Jose Mourinho’s stock arguably falling by the day Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola may have a rightful claim to be the best coach in world football right now.
But, after two and a half years at the helm of the German Goliath, rumours abound that he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this season.
The Daily Mail is the most assertive amongst the British press in relation to this story. They say:
Pep Guardiola to quit Bayern Munich at end of season with Carlo Ancelotti set to replace him as Spaniard puts Manchester United, Chelsea and Man City on red alert
And, The Manchester Evening News is also taking a keen interest:
Manchester United: Pep Guardiola to announce future ‘next week’ amid growing pressure on Van Gaal
and the boss has been quoted by the source as saying:
“Tonight, I have no answer. Next week, you will know the answer. Next week there will be clarity.”
In reality, with so much at stake and managers in place at all three of the clubs that Pep has been linked with, we won’t know for some time where he is going to be plying his trade next season.
But we should know next week whether he’s up for grabs in the summer.
And that announcement will possibly dictate to the plans of the Manchester United board in relation to Louis van Gaal.
The Manchester United manager has another season after this on his contract but his popularity amongst the fans is definitely waning as the much-publicised ‘process‘ that he is trying to implement is showing little sign of bearing fruit any time soon.
Manchester United are as clunky to watch as at any time in the last few years and the performances have been particularly substandard of late.
Like Van Gaal, Pep Guardiola engenders a possession-based style of football. But there is freshness about his approach and his record speaks for itself.
While Van Gaal has failed to win a Champions League trophy since 1995, Guardiola has two of them in the last 6 years and his team is among the favourites for the trophy this season.
In the current context, Guardiola would probably be a very popular choice among Manchester United fans if the club did try to bring him in next summer.