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Pep Guardiola could leave Manchester City at the end of the season, with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca among those on the list to succeed him at the Etihad Stadium.
After years of battling Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Guardiola is chasing down Mikel Arteta and Arsenal this season. In the last campaign, he was beaten to the Premier League title by Arne Slot.
While Guardiola has not made a firm decision on his future, it is possible that this could be his final season at the helm. Maresca, like Arteta, worked under the Spaniard in Manchester.
According to The Athletic, while Guardiola is under contract until 2027, Manchester City is making contingency plans just in case he decides to move on.
Maresca has been a senior head coach at Leicester City and Parma in the past. He was U21s boss at Manchester City and then Guardiola's assistant on either side of a season in Italy.
Speaking to ESPN Brasil in May, Guardiola pledged to take a break from soccer when he leaves Manchester City. He joined the Citizens almost a decade ago.
"After my contract with City, I'm going to stop," the Catalan, who has been linked with the Brazilian national team job in the past, said. "I am sure. I don’t know if I'm going to retire, but I'm going to take a break."
Earlier this week, Klopp praised Guardiola. The pair are full of respect for one another and drove each other's teams to new heights.
"The best of the best in football are being honored today," Klopp said before the FIFA Best awards. "In that spirit: This is my Mount Rushmore of football managers!"
Leaving himself out — as well as the likes of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Arrigo Sacchi — Klopp began by naming the legendary Dutchman Johan Cruyff, before giving a spot to Manchester City boss Guardiola.
"This is my Mount Rushmore of football coaches and actually four is really difficult to do, but I will try anyway," Klopp started.
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"Johan Cruyff, [the] most influential football coach I have ever heard of. The way he saw football, the way he understood football, is just second to none.
"Pep Guardiola, you could say exactly the same about him, and I faced him and know how difficult it was.
"Now it gets really tricky. Let's go to the most successful [manager of all time] — and a guy I really like as well — Sir Alex Ferguson.
"And now I barely can decide. Carlo Ancelotti is in my mind, obviously. Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, I heard so much about them, never saw them. But yes, I want to see Bill Shankly on the Mount Rushmore. That's it."
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