Have Manchester City identified Pep Guardiola’s successor?

With rumors flying that Pep Guardiola will leave Manchester City after his contract expires in 2021, former Feynoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been given an all-access role around the club, per the Daily Mail.

Although Manchester City may seem like the perfect situation for Pep Guardiola, rumors have been circling for the past six months that he will seek a new challenge after he completes his fifth season at the Etihad Stadium. With two Premier League titles, a record-breaking 100-point season, and an unprecedented domestic treble, his time in the Northwest has been an absolute success to this point, but in the modern game, elite managers have shown a tendency to seek a new challenge rather than remain at a club for long tenures.

The Guardiola era established something Manchester City had not yet seen before: consistency. While there were solid title-winning sides during the tenures of Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, they failed to continue that excellence on a year-in, year-out basis and often underperformed. Moreover, Guardiola’s City were the first side in the club’s history that had a real case to be the best team in the world and a serious European threat, all the while playing arguably the best attacking football on the continent.

City’s main challenge when moving on from their iconic leader is to find a way to maintain that consistency and status as one of Europe’s truly elite clubs. While the club’s infrastructure is solid from board level all the way down to the backroom staff, identifying the coach that can keep City’s machine roaring at a high level will be a massive challenge. This is why promoting from within the club has been the popular choice, as the new manager will have observed Guardiola’s tactics and make the transition as seamless as possible.

With former Feynoord manager and Arsenal and Barcelona player Giovanni van Bronckhorst ending his sabbatical to take an “all-access” backroom role around City, the Dutchman has been tipped to be the club’s preferred choice to takeover once Guardiola leaves. Van Bronckhorst initially served as the assistant manager to Ronald Koeman before leading Feynoord to an Eredivisie title and two Dutch Cups. In addition, Van Bronckhorst has a relationship with both City Chief Executive Ferran Soriano and Sporting Director Txiki Begiristain from their time in Barcelona.

Although the appointment of Van Bronckhorst to observe for the next two seasons before being made manager makes sense, there was already an in-house candidate who will likely be in contention to take over. Guardiola’s assitant manager Mikel Arteta, whose profile is quickly rising as a candidate for top-level managerial jobs, was tipped to potentially be named the manager of his former club Arsenal.

Guardiola has backed Arteta to suceed him at the club just as recently as last week, according to the Evening Standard. Guardiola has repeatedly stated that City will not be his final managerial job, and continues to be linked with a move to Serie A champions Juventus, despite vehemently denying such reports at the end of last season. Other potential candidates to replace him could include Patrick Vieira, who worked within City’s youth sides before managing New York City FC and Nice in Ligue 1, and even club legend Vincent Kompany, who recently began his foray into management with Anderlecht.

Regardless of who will replace the Catalan, the Pep Guardiola era has been a special time in Manchester. Even if his reign does not bear the fruits of a Champions League title, his domestic dominance put City on the map as a truly top-echelon club that is consistently excellent. While City will be challenged to maintain such a high standard, Guardiola has laid the groundwork for the next decade of success at the Etihad. He may not have had the longevity of Wenger or Ferguson for their respective clubs, but he will be forever beloved as the greatest to ever manage Manchester City.