Alan Shearer Predicts Pep Guardiola's Next Move to International Football

Alan Shearer believes Pep Guardiola’s next act will not be another superclub, another league, or another domestic arms race. He sees the Manchester City manager stepping away, recharging, and then walking into international football.

Guardiola is expected to leave City this summer, with Sunday’s Premier League finale against Aston Villa increasingly framed as the last chapter of a decade-long reign at the Etihad Stadium. Ten years of relentless control, constant expectation and an unbroken cycle of pressure have left many wondering what could possibly follow.

For Shearer, the answer feels clear.

Speaking to Betfair, the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer said Guardiola’s immediate future lies away from the touchline. “What lies ahead for Pep Guardiola after City? A break!” he said, backing the idea that the Catalan will again step back from the game before returning. Guardiola has taken sabbaticals before and, in Shearer’s eyes, the pattern is likely to repeat: a year out, then a refreshed, re-energised Guardiola ready to dive back in.

This time, though, Shearer does not see him returning to the weekly grind of club football. He sees him on the international stage.

“I can envision him leading an international team,” Shearer added, stressing that while it would not be “less demanding,” it would offer a different type of intensity and a new kind of challenge after a decade of chasing every trophy, every season, with City.

Guardiola has already been linked in the past with the Brazil national team job, a role many in the game feel would suit his tactical ambition and his track record of moulding attacking, possession-heavy sides. The idea of him fronting a major national team at a World Cup or continental championship has hovered over his City tenure for years; Shearer’s comments only sharpen that focus.

As speculation over Guardiola’s next move grows, the picture at City is also beginning to shift. It has been widely reported that former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is set to succeed him at the Etihad Stadium, stepping into one of the most demanding roles in modern football: following the man who turned City into a domestic juggernaut and a European champion.

Guardiola’s farewell, if Sunday does prove to be it, will close one of the defining eras in Premier League history. The real intrigue now sits just beyond that final whistle: does the architect of City’s dominance really swap the weekly storm of club football for the measured, high-stakes rhythm of the international game?