Wayne Rooney tells Man City who they have to replace Pep Guardiola with

Former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney has explained why he wants Pep Guardiola to remain in the Premier League despite naming who Manchester City “have to go and get” if the Spaniard decides to depart.

Guardiola’s Manchester City have by no means been at their fluent best this season, but with 12 Premier League games remaining, they trail league leaders Arsenal by just five points while also having played a game fewer than the Gunners.

The Manchester club also remain in the hunt for FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League glory this term.

Despite City being in all four competitions, the 2025/26 campaign has been filled with rumours and uncertainty regarding Guardiola’s future at the Etihad.

The City boss, who has guided the side to 18 trophies since arriving in 2016, penned a contract extension through to June 2027 in November 2025; however, there have been reports suggesting that the current campaign could be Guardiola’s last in charge.

Pep Guardiola's future remains uncertain (Credit:Getty)

Back in December, The Athletic reported that former Chelsea head coach and City assistant coach Enzo Maresca was high on the list of candidates the club are considering should Guardiola leave in the summer.

The report suggested that ‘well-placed’ sources believe there’s growing anticipation that the 2025/26 season will be Guardiola’s last in charge of the Manchester club, with a ‘firm decision’ on his future likely to be made near the end of the campaign.

Maresca, who is currently out of work, joined City as a youth coach in 2020/21 before becoming a first-team assistant to Pep for the 2022/23 treble-winning season.

But Rooney thinks another former Premier League manager should succeed Guardiola at City.

After stressing how he wants Guardiola to stay at City due to him being “brilliant for the Premier League”, the Liverpudlian made clear that he feels the side should target former Burnley and current Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany.

"If Pep does go, they have to go and get [current Bayern Munich boss] Vincent Kompany," Rooney told the Wayne Rooney Show.

"He knows the club, he has been successful with Bayern in a similar way. It looks like he has learned from Pep.

"Pep will probably choose the next manager. If he is going, he will probably be part of the process to choose the next one.

"I just think in terms of Pep, he looks at himself as a bit of a teacher, and he has been at the club for 10 years, he will want to leave the club in a good place."

Kompany made 360 appearances for City during his playing career, guiding the side to four Premier League titles.

Since embarking on a career in management, he coached Burnley to promotion from the Championship to the Premier League before they were relegated back to the second-tier in 2023/24.

Following that season, he landed the Bayern job and has since guided the Bundesliga side to the German title in 2024/25.

Kompany is contracted to Bayern until June 2029, having signed an extension in October 2025.