Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has left the door open for Pep Guardiola in case he wants to make a return to the club.
Bartomeu said he offered Guardiola the opportunity to take charge of La Masia towards the end of his four-year spell as Barcelona head coach. Guardiola, who guided one of football’s all-time great teams through one of the most successful periods in Barcelona’s history between 2008 and 2012, opted instead to leave Camp Nou and enjoyed a spell as Bayern Munich boss before joining City.
“He’s a genius and he has the doors of his house open whenever he wants,” Bartomeu told The Times. The other day I read that he would like to take over La Masia in the future, it seems perfect to me. That’s what we offered him when he told us he wanted to leave because he was tired because of the pressure. “His return would be great news.”
Guardiola was in charge of Barcelona’s B side, before winning three LaLiga titles, two Copas del Rey and two Champions League trophies with the first team
Regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, Guardiola was a creative and technically gifted efensive midfielder who usually played in a deep-lying playmaking role. He spent the majority of his career with Barcelona, forming a part of Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team that won the club’s first European Cup in 1992, and four successive Spanish league titlesfrom 1991 to 1994. He later captained the team from 1997 to 2001. After leaving Barcelona, Guardiola had stints with Brescia and Roma in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar, and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico. He was capped 47 times for the Spanish national team and appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as well as at UEFA Euro 2000. He also played friendly matches for Catalonia.
After retiring as a player, Guardiola briefly coached Barcelona B, with whom he won a Tercera División title, and assumed control of the first-team in 2008. In his first season as the first team manager, he guided Barcelona to a treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. In doing so, Guardiola became the youngest manager to win the aforementioned European competition. The following campaign, he led Barcelona to four trophies, including winning his second Spanish league title as manager. In 2011, after leading the club to another La Liga and Champions League double, Guardiola was awarded the Catalan Parliament’s Gold Medal, their highest honour. The same year, he was also named the FIFA World Coach of the Year. In Guardiola’s final season at Barcelona, he again won four trophies, before departing in 2012. He ended his four-year Barcelona stint with 14 major honours, a club record.
After a sabbatical period, Bayern Munich announced Guardiola would join the club as manager in 2013. In his first season at the club, he won four trophies, including a double of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. Guardiola won seven trophies during his three-year tenure in Germany; winning the Bundesliga every season he was there, as well as two domestic doubles. He left the Bavarians for English club Manchester City in 2016, and guided them to a Premier League title in his second campaign in charge, breaking numerous domestic records as the team became the first to attain 100 league points.
As a manager, Guardiola has won 24 major honours, making him one of the most successful managers in world football. He also holds the record for the most consecutive league wins in La Liga, Bundesliga and the Premier League. He is regarded by many in the sport to be one of the greatest managers in football history