Pep Guardiola’s current deal at Man City runs out at the end of the season His former assistants Arteta and Maresca have impressed in managerial rolesSOCCER A-Z: Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube. New episodes every Wednesday and Friday
It’s a massive compliment to Pep Guardiola that two of the brightest Premier League managers worked for him at Manchester City and have greatly improved Chelsea and Arsenal on what they learned.
Enzo Maresca and Mikel Arteta will be in the conversation to succeed their mentor when Pep leaves because they already know the club so well. But I don’t think it’s going to happen.
First, I suspect City will want a manager with experience of winning a major league or European competition. With Hugo Viana due to begin as a new sporting director, they’ll need someone in the hot seat who can attract the stars.
Just as importantly, I don’t believe even if they are courted by City either Maresca or Arteta would be prepared at this stage to sacrifice the projects they are building for the awkward challenge of following a legend.
The only manager to compare with Guardiola in terms of success, Sir Alex Ferguson, has been impossible to match at Manchester United for more than a decade.
Pep Guardiola is in the final year of his Man City deal and could depart at the end of the season
Former City assistant Mikel Arteta has transformed the fortunes of Arsenal since his arrival
Enzo Maresca has made a great start to life at Chelsea, having also worked under Guardiola
Let’s look at Maresca first as he is having such an impressive debut season in the Premier League. It was a risk for the Chelsea hierarchy to appoint him because he’d never managed at the elite level before.
So far, Maresca has seized the opportunity he’s been given and is doing great things with a young and talented squad — a very different job to City, where established players have grown used to working with Pep.
Maybe I’m old school but I like to think the Italian has a degree of appreciation for the people at Chelsea who have given him a chance and that loyalty would come into play. We know the quality in the City squad is unparallelled, but should Chelsea continue to make progress, they will also have a very high ceiling.
From City’s point of view, they will question whether not having Guardiola or Txiki Begiristain in the building would alter their ability to recruit who they want.
Though modern players look at other factors besides the manager when choosing their next move, I still think a Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso or even Vincent Kompany would be able to attract the A-list players better than Maresca.
You could also say the same about Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann, who might be available after the 2026 World Cup if Guardiola stays longer.
Arteta is further down the line in achievements than Maresca, with an FA Cup and two Premier League runners-up finishes.
But I believe he will also have that sense of duty to Arsenal, who awarded him the top job when he didn’t have the CV to back it up. He’s rebuilt the club and surely wouldn’t want to leave until the task is completed.
City have recruited Sporting director Hugo Viana to replace the outgoing Txiki Begiristain
Xabi Alonso guided Bayer Leverkusen to their first ever Bundesliga title last season
We’re seeing similar at Aston Villa, where Unai Emery is given the power he needs to build, so would see no reason to leave.
What unites both Maresca and Arteta is the Guardiola impact on their philosophy. Managers usually mimic certain aspects from coaches they’ve worked with — these two have taken the full biscuit tin from Pep.
Their current teams have a strong resemblance to the City that they helped create under the maestro. Fluid, well-organised, good in possession. I’m sure we will see that in a highly competitive game at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
Whatever Guardiola decides in the summer, I expect this London derby to have the same figures in the technical area next season.
ChelseaMikel ArtetaEnzo MarescaPep Guardiola