Premier League champions Man City have made Girona boss Michel their top target to replace Pep Guardiola in 2025, according to reports.
The Citizens won the Treble in 2023 to cement Guardiola’s place as one of the best-ever managers in Premier League history.
And Man City seemed on course for another Treble this term before they were unfortunate to be knocked out of the Champions League on penalties by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
They did win the Premier League, beating Arsenal to the title on the final day of the season, but arch-rivals Man Utd ruined their remaining chance of a Double by beating them 2-1 in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
And there has been speculation that Guardiola could leave Man City at the end of the 2024/25 campaign with his contract expiring in the summer of 2025.
All reports are currently pointing towards the Spaniard leaving the Etihad Stadium in 12 months’ time with Guardiola himself admitting that he is “closer to leaving than staying”.
Speaking a week ago, Guardiola told reporters: “The reality is I am closer to leaving than staying. We have talked with the club and my feeling is that I want to stay now. I will stay next season and during the season we will talk. But after eight or nine years, we will see.”
The Daily Mail has now reported that Guardiola is set ‘to call time’ on his Man City spell in 2025 with the Premier League champions to ‘give Guardiola space to make a final decision on his future’.
And reports in Spain insist that Man City have made Girona boss Michel their ‘chosen one’ to replace Guardiola in 2025 after the Spaniard ‘decided to end his time at City’.
It is understood that the board at Man City ‘value Michel for his tactical ability and his success in developing young talent, characteristics that could be essential to continuing Guardiola’s legacy’.
As well as Michel – who guided Girona to third in La Liga and a place in next season’s Champions League – Man City have Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann, Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi as potential options.