With everything that Pep Guardiola achieved with FC Barcelona during his four years at the club, he is guaranteed to remain a highly revered and remembered figure. He is inarguably one of the best coaches in Barcelona’s history and arguably one of the best in football history.
Since 2016, Guardiola has been in charge of the Premier League side Manchester City, and the author Marti Perarnau has recently published an extensive biography that covers his seven years at the English club.
While this book focuses primarily on Guardiola’s time at Manchester City, there are several anecdotes that recall the manager’s relationship with Barcelona.
The Spanish publication Diario AS has compiled some of the most notable parts of the book, and one of the most interesting parts of this compilation deals with one of Pep Guardiola’s principles at City that was aimed at not hurting two of his previous sides, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
The author recalls how Guardiola would not have wanted to sign anyone from Barcelona or Bayern, even Lionel Messi:
“It was Messi who offered himself. Leo was the one who knocked on the door (the Argentine forward’s circle denies it). Pep had his reservations.”
“He’s very clear about not touching Barça and not touching Bayern. City had a list of Bayern players to sign, and Pep told Txiki not to touch anyone. And there were many, almost everyone except the kit man.”
This part of the book shows how the former Barcelona coach still holds his old sides in a high regard. His club wanted to sign several players from Barcelona and Bayern, but Guardiola forbade City from doing so.
