Pep Guardiola has revealed his deepest regret during his tenure at Manchester City, admitting he wishes he had given England goalkeeper Joe Hart a proper opportunity to prove himself.
The 55-year-old Spaniard, who will oversee his final match in charge of City this Sunday against Aston Villa, made the candid confession ahead of his departure.
Hart was swiftly sent out on loan to Torino within weeks of Guardiola’s arrival in 2016, with Claudio Bravo subsequently signed that same year, followed by Ederson the following season.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Guardiola stated: “I want to confess, I have regrets. When you take a lot of decisions, a lot, lot of decisions, you make mistakes. But there is one regret that I have deep inside for many years, that I didn’t give a chance to Joe Hart to be with me to prove himself how good a keeper he was.”
He elaborated on his feelings, adding: “I should have done, not because… all respect for Claudio, all respect for Ede who came in, they were important, but in that moment, I could have said, ‘Okay Joe, let’s try to do it together. If it doesn’t work, okay, we’ll change it’. But it happened. Life is sometimes… I have to take decisions and sometimes I’m not fair enough.”
Guardiola reflected on his decision-making process, noting: “Maybe with time then and learning… But I regret it from that time. In that moment, I said, ‘I believe in that’. Always I am stubborn in my decisions, when I believe in that. When I have doubts, I talk with people, but when I’m completely sure, 100 per cent, I say, ‘Guys, we have to do it in that way’, and I have been at a club that has supported me absolutely in everything with that.”
He acknowledged that managing human emotions is among the most challenging aspects of football management, particularly concerning players not in the team. Guardiola insisted he always endeavoured to handle such situations with “humanity and respect”.
Concluding his thoughts, he said: “If in that I failed, I do apologise, but it never, never was my intention or the intention of the club.”
