A Manchester City legend has discussed Pep Guardiola's future
Maria Ortega and Jake Bayliss Sport Writer - U35s 12:37, 02 Oct 2025
David Silva has voiced his thoughts on which job Pep Guardiola should take when he finally decides to step away from Manchester City. The 54-year-old is closing in on a decade in charge at City and recently signed a new two-year contract.
There had been fears that Guardiola would choose not to extend his deal as City began to falter last season, eventually slumping to third in the Premier League and suffering an early Champions League exit. However, Guardiola signed an extension last November, tying him to the club until 2027.
Despite Guardiola’s commitment to City, club icon Silva believes that Guardiola should try international management in the future. World Cup winner Silva believes Guardiola would be a perfect fit for the Spain job, once the City manager and current La Roja boss Luis de la Fuente leave their respective posts.
"I'd like to see him as Spain's manager,” Silva said. “Luis de la Fuente is doing a phenomenal job now, but it would be good to have Pep in the future.
“He could bring a style of football based on good ball control and always going out to win games. A bit like the philosophy of the current Spanish national team."
Silva earned a remarkable 125 caps for Spain and was part of the squads that won three successive major tournaments between 2008 and 2012. Having signed for City from Valencia in 2010, Silva spent the last four years of his time at the club under Guardiola, who previously named the midfielder among the top five City players of all time.
During the City TV documentary Made in Gran Canaria, celebrating Silva’s career, Guardiola said: “'I'd only say that he has to be proud for all that he has achieved in football because he has been consistent and, especially at this club, he will be always remembered as one of the biggest, biggest, biggest players ever to wear the Man City shirt."
He added: “If we're talking about the top five, David is one of them, and I don't say that lightly.” Silva played 436 games for the club, winning four Premier League titles and multiple other major honours.
Fortunately for City, the prospect of Guardiola getting the Spain job is not an imminent concern, not least because of the manager’s new deal. In January, Spain boss De la Fuente was also handed a contract extension until the end of Euro 2028 after leading the country to glory last summer.
Meanwhile, Guardiola is fully focused on rebuilding his City team. The club welcomed Gianluigi Donnarumma, Tijani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki during the transfer window and the manager made his intentions clear when discussing his future in August.
"I have two more years, maybe I'll extend two more years. So the question is when I will stop in this year or in two years, or in four years, I will take a break. But now I feel fine, I would say," he told Men in Blazers.
"The team is giving me good vibes, starting from the [Club] World Cup in the United States. There we created something. I saw something that I liked, that I missed last season.
"The training sessions, the body language, the details, arriving on time, the (running) backwards, how we defend throw-ins, stupid things that you realise the team is there. And that will help us to be, I think, more consistent than last season."
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