Alan Shearer Predicts Guardiola's Next Move After City Exit

Pep Guardiola is heading for the Etihad exit this summer, and one of the Premier League’s greats thinks he knows what comes next.

Alan Shearer believes the Manchester City manager’s future lies away from the relentless churn of club football and on the international stage, once he has taken a well-earned pause from the touchline.

Guardiola’s final Premier League game in charge of City is expected to come on Sunday against Aston Villa, drawing the curtain on a decade that has reshaped English football. Ten years of titles, tactical revolutions and suffocating expectation are about to give way to something else entirely.

Shearer, speaking to Betfair, is convinced the Spaniard will not dive straight back into another daily grind.

“What lies ahead for Pep Guardiola after City? A break!”

He expects a familiar pattern: Guardiola stepping away, recharging, and then re-emerging with the same ferocious drive that has defined his career.

The 55-year-old has already been linked with the Brazil national team job, a role that has hovered around his name for several years. For Shearer, that kind of post makes perfect sense after a decade of non-stop pressure in Manchester.

“I can envision him leading an international team; I won’t claim it’s less demanding, but perhaps it won’t be as intense, presenting a different challenge for him,”

the former England captain said.

The idea is clear: fewer games, but bigger occasions. Less of the week-to-week grind, more of the long build-up to defining tournaments. A different kind of scrutiny, but not the exhausting cycle of league, cups and Europe that Guardiola has navigated since arriving in England.

As speculation swirls around his next move, City’s succession plan appears already in motion. It has been widely reported that former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is set to take over at the Etihad Stadium once Guardiola departs.

So the era that began with a bold appointment from Barcelona is likely to end against Aston Villa on Sunday. What follows could be a sabbatical, then a dugout at a World Cup or European Championship — a new stage for one of the game’s most demanding minds.