Pep Guardiola Hints at Potential Man City Exit Despite Signing Two-Year Contract Extension

Pep Guardiola has confessed that taking a break from football would "do me good," revealing that he plans to focus on learning French, improving his cooking skills, and playing golf once he steps away from management.

While the Manchester City manager admitted he enjoys the adrenaline of his Premier League role, he made a surprising confession during an interview with a renowned Spanish chef after signing a two-year contract extension, following four consecutive defeats for his team. He said, "I want to leave it and go play golf, but I can't."

“A time will come when I feel it’s enough and I’ll definitely stop then," Guardiola added. "I’m not going to manage another team. I’m not talking about the long-term future but what I’m not going to do is leave Manchester City and go to another country to do the same thing as I am now.

“I wouldn’t have the energy to do so. I’m still here doing what I am today. But the thought of starting off somewhere else, with all the process of the training and so on... no, no, no! Maybe a national team but that’s different.

“I should stop, like these chefs that go to other countries, stop and see what we’ve done well and what we could do better and when you’re busy all day day after day you don’t have time to do that. I think stopping would do me good.”

In an interview with Marbella-born chef Dani Garcia on his Desmontadito YouTube channel, Pep Guardiola admitted that he's a terrible cook, only able to make fried eggs and chips. However, he expressed his desire to learn more once he steps away from football, saying, "I'm still young, and when I stop, there are several things I want to do. One of them is to learn French, dedicate my free time to myself so I can play golf, and then start learning how to cook simple things."

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Speaking from Tast, the Catalan-inspired restaurant he supports in Manchester, Guardiola discussed how he’s attempting to lift his players from a tough run of form following another dropped point against Crystal Palace. He reflected on coping with the challenges of defeat, saying, "The starting point with dealing with the problems of defeat is being with people, your family. But no one can truly console the loneliness of a football manager.

“You have people beside you but the bad decisions, why have I done that, it’s gone wrong because I did this, I didn’t push them enough….the pain of the defeat, you feel it alone. You might have friends around you, but when you close that bedroom door and turn off the light there’s no consolation. You have to let one or two days pass and then start again.

“Golf helps me. One of the best therapies I have is when the Augusta Masters or one of the major tournaments comes round from Thursday to Sunday and I prepare my matches at home or here in Tast.

“I look at our rival and the images I want to take but always with the golf on in the background. A bottle of wine, a glass of wine, work and hearing: “Now so and so, Tiger Woods for instance, is going to tee off, look at the shot, and then get back to what I was doing, and then the same again. Working like that I think makes me a better manager.”

Pep Guardiola referred to the injured Ballon d’Or winner Rodri as the "salt with sugar" of his team, saying: "He’s been voted the best player in the world, and of course we miss him. Imagine if Messi had just been named the best player in the world and we had to play without him for an entire year.

“I don’t think we would have won the treble or the sextuple without them. These players are unique and they show that uniqueness especially in the bad times, when games are going against you.

“Rodri is at another level in that respect so of course we miss him. But time passes quickly and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger.”

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