'You didn't ask?' - Pep Guardiola learned one manager refused involvement in special montage video
One of Pep Guardiola's biggest managerial rivals refused to participate in a special montage honouring him earlier this season, it has emerged.
Guardiola manages Manchester City for the final time against Aston Villa on Sunday after a sensational 10-year run which brought 20 trophies - including six Premier League titles.
News emerged earlier this week indicating that the Catalan would leave City earlier than his contract stipulated, with prodigy Enzo Maresca set to replace him.
The decision was confirmed by Guardiola in his press conference on Friday, where he said the team needed a "new energy".
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Guardiola's legacy at the Etihad Stadium continues after the club announced the new north stand will be named after their greatest ever manager.
In the 2025/26 campaign which saw Guardiola lead City to Carabao Cup and FA Cup glory, the 55-year-old celebrated his 1000th game as a manager back in November when his side beat Liverpool 3-0.
READ MORE: Pep Guardiola accepts next job role after confirming Man City exit in emotional statement
To mark the achievement, Sky Sports put together a montage featuring managers past and present who came up against Guardiola.
According to an in-depth report from Jack Gaughan in the Daily Mail, legendary former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who went toe-to-toe with Guardiola for years, "did not need asking twice" to get involved.
Similarly, Roy Hodgson was more than happy to participate and learned how to record and send a video message on his phone. Arsene Wenger, Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis and Neil Warnock also sent their congratulations but Jose Mourinho was nowhere to be seen.
Guardiola noticed that and commented to Sky's production crew, "You didn’t ask Jose, then?". However, they had in fact reached out to the 'Special One' but he had declined.
Guardiola and Mourinho knew each other from when the former was a player at Barcelona, where Mourinho worked as a translator.
They went head to head in El Clasico and renewed their rivalry in English football with City and Manchester United, before Mourinho moved on to Spurs for a brief stint.
Guardiola did get a special message off Sir Alex Ferguson, a 13-time Premier League winner and a man he has a tremendous amount of respect for.
Pep Guardiola revealed only Man City regret in final Sky Sports interview
Guardiola completely transformed English football with his methods and became the only manage to win four Premier League titles in a row - as well as matching Ferguson's treble-winning feat with City in 2023.
However, in his last sit-down interview with Sky Sports, Guardiola did confess to a major regret during his time at City. In his first brutal move as City boss, he got rid of fan favourite and No.1 goalkeeper Joe Hart - who played once in a Champions League clash with Steau Bucharest before leaving for Torino on loan.
The three-time Premier League Golden Glove winner didn't play for City again and was replaced by the error-prone Claudio Bravo, before Ederson came in and reinvented the position.
But looking back, Guardiola believes he should have given Hart a chance.
“I didn’t give Joe Hart a chance to be with me, to prove himself [and] how good a keeper he was," he said, speaking to Sky Sports.
"And I should have done. All respect to Claudio [Bravo], for Ederson. But in that moment, I thought, ‘ok Joe, let’s try to do it together. If it doesn’t work, then ok, we change it because it happened.’”
“But it happened. You know, life is sometimes — I have to take decisions, and sometimes I am not fair enough."
Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City
Josh Lawless