Pep Guardiola fuelled the uncertainty surrounding his future when he claimed he had not made a decision on when he will leave Manchester City.
Guardiola is out of contract at the end of this season and said he had not made up his mind over whether this campaign will be his last, bringing to an end his period of unprecedented dominance in the blue half of Manchester.
“Leaving City? It’s not true, I haven’t decided yet,” Guardiola told Italian TV. “And it's not even true that I will be the next England coach. If I had decided I would say it. I don’t know either, anything can happen.”
The decision by City's sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, to leave his role at the end of this season, fuelled the belief that Guardiola will take the same course of action.
Guardiola has long praised the key role his former Barcelona team-mate and close friend Begiristain has played in his success at City, as well as that of chief executive Ferran Soriano.
Leaving at the same time as Begiristain, who will be replaced by former Newcastle midfielder Hugo Viana, would seem a natural decision from Guardiola, now in his ninth season in charge of City.
There is still hope at City that Guardiola will sign a one-year contract extension to make it a decade for him at the Etihad Stadium and give the hierarchy more time to try to replace the irreplaceable.
But there is a growing feeling this will be the last season of Guardiola's glittering reign, even if recent history tells us he usually waits until the November international break before making a final decision on his contract situation.
Those in charge at City have, understandably, been dreading the day Guardiola decides to leave, given his peerless status as the greatest coach in world football. Just as Manchester United have found it impossible to replace Sir Alex Feguson, City fear falling victim to a similar scenario when Guardiola eventually decides to call it a day.
Yet City's loss could be England's gain, if Guardiola decides his next career move would be to coach at international level, something he has intimated in the past does interest him. It would be a major coup if the FA were able to convince Guardiola, 53, to take on the England job next summer, if indeed he does decide his time at City has run its course.
As well as being the most accomplished coach in the game right now, England's players would undoubtedly relish the chance to play for him, as those who work with him at City – Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Fodem and Cole Palmer - now at Chelsea – will testify.
How likely is it that Guardiola is the next Three Lions boss? That depends on him. If he chooses to stay at City, the FA must look elsewhere. Equally, he may decide he needs a break from football if he leaves City, just as he did in taking a year out, to live in New York, when he left Barcelona in 2012.
In terms of successors, Michel, coach at City’s sister club Girona, has put himself in the frame after guiding the Spanish club to the Champions League, while Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi would also be under consideration, as would former City captain Vincent Kompany, currently at Bayern Munich.
Whoever is entrusted with following Guardiola at City, when that day eventually comes, will take on one of the toughest assignments in world football, charged with maintaining one of the greatest legacies in the modern game.
