Pep Guardiola’s path out of Manchester City just became more complicated. The Football Association broke its silence on Friday after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules, and the language it chose has reopened a bigger question over whether the governing body could ever hand its own biggest job to the club’s long-serving head coach.
In a 58-word statement published on Friday, the FA said: “The Independent Commission’s decision has significant implications for the integrity of the game. We are carefully considering the decision and its implications and will take action where appropriate.”
The FA added that it would not comment further while proceedings between the league and the club remained ongoing, but promised to “continue to monitor developments closely.”
There is no specific wording about taking action against individuals connected to the club. The FA references potential action only in general terms. That has not stopped a loud reading of the statement as a signal that Guardiola, long linked to the England post, is now out of contention.
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Balague: FA will not want someone who divides
Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague, a close observer of Guardiola’s career, has told GiveMeSport that the verdict has effectively ended any chance of the manager succeeding Thomas Tuchel as England head coach.
“Right now, I don’t think the FA will want to bring somebody in that divides the world,” Balague said.
He also revealed that the FA had already approached Guardiola once.
“Do you know that, for two months, Pep Guardiola made the England FA wait to see if he wanted to be the England national manager?”
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Balague added that, in Guardiola’s eyes, “it was a really good job.”
The verdict and the £900m case
The independent commission’s decision was handed down on 29 September and found Manchester City guilty of all the most serious charges after a case covering nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18. The commission concluded the club had used “sham” commercial contracts to artificially inflate revenues and cut costs by more than £900m.
Manchester City said they were “disappointed and surprised” by the ruling and announced an appeal, claiming the commission’s opinion contains “material errors of law, principle and fact.” A separate hearing will determine sanctions, with points deductions, fines and other sporting penalties all on the table.
Most of the period in the case predates Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City in 2016, and there has been no public suggestion that he was involved in or aware of the breaches. The framing of the FA statement as a block on his next job is interpretation of a general-worded notice, not a named ruling against him.
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Tuchel’s post is not vacant
Guardiola’s England route is not open in any immediate sense. Thomas Tuchel is the FA’s current England manager and has signed a contract extension that runs through UEFA Euro 2028, meaning any realistic conversation about Guardiola in the role would hinge on the post coming free after that tournament.
Manchester City’s appeal, which the club had been given until Friday to file, is the next concrete step before any sanctions hearing can be scheduled.
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