Potential Pep Guardiola farewell should set Arsenal alarm bells ringing in title race

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Over the last few years, we have all put two and two together and come up with Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City only for him to stay for another couple of seasons. It probably does not pay to read too much into his emotions. He is an emotional guy, clearly.

But it was hard not to see a smidgeon of significance in the lovely hug he shared with his daughter Maria at Wembley last Sunday. Making the most of what might be one of his final gigs at Wembley?

Ah, there we go again, reading too much into an emotional guy’s emotions. He was just enjoying a special moment with his family, simple as that.

But we are probably on safer ground reading too much into Rodri’s comments about a potential move to Real Madrid. “For me, you can’t turn down the best clubs in the world,” Rodri said.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner is already at one of the best clubs in the world, coached by the best manager in the world.

After this season, Rodri has one more year left on his Etihad contract, and City are understandably very keen for the 29-year-old to sign a new, relatively long-term deal. But should Real Madrid’s interest prove concrete, a move to the Bernabeu would hold an obvious attraction to someone who played in the city of his birth, albeit for rivals Atletico.

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It would be an opportunity to go home that would seem too good to miss. But for Rodri to openly talk about it makes you wonder if he knows this season could mark the end of a City era.

It has been said many times - not least by the man himself - that Guardiola always honours contracts, and in that event, he would have one more season left in Manchester. But the suggestions he might take a break after this season have been strong for some time.

Either way, it was hard not to see how much the Carabao Cup win meant to a manager who has a mountain of trophies. Which is why Arsenal and Mikel Arteta can afford to have zero complacency over the Premier League title run-in.

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What you are going to see in Manchester City’s final eight Premier League games - not to mention in their blockbuster FA Cup tie with Liverpool - is, I suspect, an intensity that is remarkable even by Guardiola standards. And in last weekend’s game at Wembley, he showed that he still has the tactical acumen to outwit any rival. He looked rejuvenated, his team looked rejuvenated.

His squad has a relatively clean bill of health and it is surely only a matter of time before Erling Haaland is firing on all cylinders again. With four of Arsenal’s seven remaining fixtures being at home - and against opponents that currently sit 13th, 12th, ninth and 19th - you would expect Arteta’s side to get across the line, even if they lose at the Etihad on April 19.

But if this does happen to be Pep’s last season in the Premier League, he will be desperate for a magical end. And an Arsenal cruise to the title is not the formality it once looked.