Brazil interested in appointing Pep Guardiola as coach, says report

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is on the radar for international coaching positions, including the highly touted Brazil job.

Brazil head coach Tite departed the role after Brazil shockingly exited the World Cup in the quarterfinals against Croatia. That being said, he did mention his plans to leave after this World Cup prior to the tournament starting.

Still, Brazil does not have an immediate replacement. Now, Pep Guardiola could be the name to top the list of candidates on the radar for Brazil. Spanish publication SPORT says the Brazilian federation is reaching out to the Spanish manager in the coming days. It wants to gauge Guardiola’s interest in the job. In the past, Guardiola expressed a desire to enter the national team realm.

The Brazilian organization deems Guardiola the best coach in the world. Hard to argue with his success at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City. As a manager, he only failed to not win a league title on three occasions dating back to 2008/09. Interestingly, it happened just once at each of his coaching positions. He also has a pair of Champions League titles, both coming with Barcelona.

However, his lack of Champions League success in the face of astounding league dominance is a red flag for international play. The Champions League bears a similar format to the World Cup or Copa America with group play. Then, there is a knockout portion. Guardiola finds a way to struggle in those one-off games, even if he dominates elsewhere.

Brazil wants Pep Guardiola to take over

Regardless, Guardiola has a draw that every team, national or club level, wants. His current contract with Manchester City expires in 2025. There have been instances of coaches managing club teams and also leading national sides. For example, Guus Hiddink managed Chelsea in 2009 as an interim role. At the same time, he was the head coach of Russia as it competed in Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup qualification.

Still, Brazil is not alone in trying to bring on Pep Guardiola to its coaching staff. Even the United States has rumors of wanting its hat in the ring to win over Guardiola. Then, there are a number of head coaching vacancies as a result of the 2022 World Cup.

Brazil will not make a decision until early 2023. It has no competitive games until late next year, when World Cup qualification returns.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images