Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu open to Pep Guardiola return
Tuesday 1 November 2016 15:42, UK
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said he is open to Pep Guardiola returning to the club in the future.
The current Manchester City manager has a long history with the La Liga club, coming through the iconic La Masia academy before going on to make 263 appearances for the first team.
He then successfully managed the club for four years, winning 14 trophies including three consecutive La Liga titles and the Champions League on two occasions.
Guardiola went on to manage Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich before moving to the Premier League, where his side currently sit top of the table on goal difference.
During an interview with Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, Barcelona president Bartomeu did not rule out a return for the club legend one day.
"Why not? You never know," he said. "Life is very long and I'm sure Pep Guardiola has Barca in his heart but now he is at City and I think he has three more years on his contract so we wish him a lot of success except when he plays against Barcelona of course.
"Life is very long so you never know who is going or who is coming back. Football is a nice experience and something that changes quite often and Guardiola is someone who is very young."
The two sides meet for the second time since the former Spain international arrived at the Etihad Stadium as they face off in the Champions League group stages on Tuesday evening.
It was Barcelona who got the better of the first meeting at the Nou Camp a few weeks ago, with a Lionel Messi hat-trick and a Neymar strike seeing them take the three points.
But it will be home advantage for Guardiola this evening as he welcomes his old club to Manchester in the European competition.
