Departing Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he hoped his successor can be true to themselves, warning that any attempt to find a carbon copy of him would likely backfire.
Guardiola, who led City to six Premier League titles, a Champions League triumph and the Club World Cup, will leave at the end of the season after a decade in charge.
Italian Enzo Maresca, who has previously coached Chelsea and Leicester City and also worked under Guardiola as an assistant at City, is reported to be the leading candidate for the top job at the Manchester club.
Asked if City’s administration had sought his advice on the next manager, Guardiola told reporters on Friday: “It doesn’t work to copy and paste in this kind of job.
“You have to be unique, natural and yourself and the new manager will be himself,” the Spaniard added, speaking ahead of City’s final league game of the season at home against Aston Villa. “The moment it starts to be a copy of another one… Everyone is everyone. It has to be like that. And that’s why everything is going to be good.”
Guardiola leaves City with the spectre of the 115 charges of alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules still looming large over his tenure, but he said he was confident there was no cause for concern.
“Because I trust them,” he added.
“I trust them! Because I spoke with them and I trust how they behave and (what) they did. So what happened – there will be the resolution. I trust them.”