American soccer fans may not want to get their hopes too high that Pep Guardiola is on the horizon as the next U.S. men’s national team coach.
The former Manchester City manager is determined to take a year off from coaching after leaving the Premier League club last summer, according to The Telegraph. The new report takes a bit of the air out of hopes that U.S. Soccer could convince the legendary football manager to take over the national team, following the departure of soon-to-be-ex-coach Mauricio Pochettino.
It has been reported that Guardiola is open to meeting with U.S. Soccer, but the new U.K. report indicates that he is not open to any offers and wants time away from the sport.
Over the weekend, talkSPORT reported that U.S. Soccer would start “initial negotiations” with the legendary coach this week.
Guardiola does have an interest in coaching on the international level and did speak with the Italian federation before eventually turning them down to take over its national team over the summer.
Amid the saga between Pochettino, Manchester United and the USMNT, The Athletic reported that Guardiola was the top choice by U.S. execs to replace the Argentine.
Following Saturday’s win over Haiti in Miami, USMNT star Folarin Balogun addressed the reports about the United States’ interest in Guardiola.
“Pep Guardiola doesn’t need me to say, he’s an absolute legend of football and we’d be honored, and grateful, to have him,” Balogun said. “I think that goes not just for him, but for many managers. That’s down to the federation…and I’m sure they already have someone in mind.
While the likelihood of him joining the program was somewhat slim, Guardiola has expressed intrigue in the U.S. and spent a previous sabbatical, after leaving Barcelona in 2012, living in New York City.
“The potential with the USA is there for the amount of people and sports and so on,” he has previously said.
Pochettino made the move to Manchester United official on Friday and will coach his final USMNT match on Tuesday.
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