Pep Guardiola guided Manchester City to a record fourth consecutive Premier League title in 2023/24 and his influence upon elite football in Europe has never been greater.
From the battle for major trophies in England to major appointments across the continent, Guardiola need only look to opposing dugouts to frequently spot disciples of his tactical methods.
Steeped in the Dutch-Catalan school of Johan Cruyff, the 53-year-old has modified and evolved this playing styling through dominant stints in La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League.
Vincent Kompany's appointment as Bayern Munich's head coach despite being relegated from England's top flight with Burnley, and Enzo Maresca's arrival at Chelsea from Championship winners Leicester City, demonstrate how an education with Guardiola can open football's most rarified doors.
There are certainly enough to put together a Guardiola coaching tree. Allow us to run through the highest achievers from the school of Pep, along with a few who still have plenty to prove.
MORE: Enzo Maresca confirmed as Chelsea's new head coach
Pep Guardiola coaching tree: Disciples of Man City boss ranked
Below are some of the finest coaches in the world who owe at least some of their expertise to time spend with Pep Guardiola.
1. Luis Enrique
A former Barcelona teammate, Luis Enrique led the club's B team between 2008 and 2011, the first three years of Guardiola's historic four-season Camp Nou tenure. He returned to Catalonia to take charge of the Blaugrana in 2014 and led a team propelled by the irresistible Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar forward line to a treble. Barcelona retained La Liga the following year and won the Copa del Rey in all three of Luis Enrique's seasons in charge.
He was installed as Spain head coach after their chaotic 2018 World Cup campaign and restored a vibrant playing style. However, Luis Enrique's national team ultimately flattered to deceive. Despite playing some of the best football witnessed at Euro 2020 and the 2022 respectively, they endured semifinal and last-16 exits, each time on penalties. After another year out of the game, Luis Enrique was appointed Paris Saint-Germain's head coach and swept to a domestic treble, again swiftly imposing his signature playing style and shaping the team for its intriguing post-Kylian Mbappe era.
2. Mikel Arteta
Arteta moved to Manchester with Guardiola when he took charge at City in 2016 and served as an influential member of his backroom staff for three and a half years. England forward Raheem Sterling was among the players to credit Arteta with having a huge influence on his career. Having considered him in the wake of Arsene Wenger's departure in 2017, Arteta's former club Arsenal came calling after Unai Emery's demise in the role before the halfway point of the 2019/20 season.
The Gunners finished that pandemic-interrupted season as FA Cup winners, with Arteta enjoying the satisfaction of becalming City in the semifinals. A difficult couple of seasons followed but Arteta's determination to gut the Arsenal squad and rebuild a vibrant young team has been vindicated by two sustained runs at the Premier League title. If not for Guardiola and City's relentless brilliance, he'd have ended their two-decade wait for glory.
3. Xabi Alonso
Towards the end of a stellar playing career for Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Spain, Alonso moved to Bayern Munich in 2014 to play under Guardiola. Despite his advancing years, he proved to be an immaculate addition at the base of the midfield and retired at the Allianz Arena in 2017, a year after Guardiola left Bavaria.
After returning to Madrid to work with their youth academy, Alonso took charge of Real Sociedad B in July 2019. In his second season, he led them to promotion to the Segunda Division, echoing Guardiola's feat when he elevated Barcelona B to Segunda Division B more than a decade earlier. Bayer Leverkusen turned to Alonso as they languished in the relegation zone at the start of 2022/23 and he steered them to Europa League qualification. Despite his burgeoning reputation, no one could have envisaged Leverkusen's history-making 2023/24 campaign, where an undefeated Bundesliga season marked the first stage of a domestic double.
4. Xavi
The midfield conductor at the heart of Guardiola's formidable Barcelona team, Xavi had long been imagined as his old boss' heir in Catalonia. A turbulent two and a half years in charge of Barca have just come to a messy end, but Xavi's time at the helm should only look better with the passage of time.
Six trophies including the 2020/21 Qatar Stars League amounted to low-key preparation for his long-trumpeted Barca return. He inherited a mess from Ronald Koeman on the field in November 2021 and a catastrophic financial situation off it. Leading Barca to La Liga glory against that backdrop in 2022/23 was a superb achievement. Even though Real Madrid powered away from the Blaugrana this season as Xavi's relationship with club president Joan Laporta rapidly deteriorated, he was entitled to leave with his head held high.
5. Erik ten Hag
Ten Hag became Bayern Munich B coach in the same 2013 summer Guardiola moved to Bavaria. He led the team to the Regionalliga Bundesliga title before returning to his native Netherlands to take charge of Utrecht, paving the way for his Ajax appointment in 2017. Across a decorated five-year spell he won three Eredivisie titles and two domestic doubles. There was also a stunning run to the semifinals of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League that made stars of the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.
"I learned a lot from Guardiola," Ten Hag said at a press conference during that European campaign. "His philosophy is sensational, what he did in Barcelona, Bayern and now with Manchester City, that attacking and attractive style sees him win a lot. It's this structure that I've tried to implement with Ajax." Doing likewise across town from Guardiola at Manchester United has proved somewhat more difficult, but Ten Hag followed up his 2023 Carabao Cup final success with victory to deny City back-to-back doubles in the 2024 FA Cup final.
6. Vincent Kompany
During his storming promotion season with Burnley in 2022/23, Guardiola insisted his former captain Kompany would one day succeed him as City manager. This proclamation came before an FA Cup tie that City won 6-0 and gave an early warning of what Kompany's fierce commitment to his playing model the face of elite opposition might have in store.
Burnley were relegated with a paltry 24 points as ideological bravery teetered far too close to naivety. Nevertheless, it has done little to temper the former Belgium defender's reputation within the game, as evidenced by Bayern's unlikely swoop to make him Thomas Tuchel's successor. The calculation is that ex-Anderlecht boss Kompany has a manner and methods that will take flight when combined with elite players. If Bayern's working out is off, then Guardiola's prophecy will start to look romantically far-fetched.
7. Enzo Maresca
Manchester City's Elite Development Squad romped to Premier League 2 glory under Maresca in 2020/21. Perhaps significantly in light of recent events, Cole Palmer was their standout player with 13 goals and six assists in 16 appearances. That persuaded Parma to take a chance on Marseca, although he was sacked after just 14 games in charge of the Serie B side in 2021.
He returned to City to work as one of Guardiola's assistants during the 2022/23 treble-winning campaign before moving to Leicester City. The Foxes unquestionably played wonderful football en route to the Championship title but a run of 10 points from as many games spanning mid-February to April turned what looked like being a procession into a three-way battle for promotion. Leicester prevailed and that success ultimately paved the way for his move to Chelsea.
8. Thierry Henry
Despite joining Barcelona relatively late in his career, France great Henry is a huge Guardiola advocate. "I learned how to play football again at 30 years old," he told Soccer AM in 2018. However, while Henry's conversion to Guardiolaism has helped to make him a compelling pundit, it has not translated to success in the dugout.
Stints in charge of Montreal Impact and his former club Monaco were short-lived and unsuccessful. Henry won some acclaim for his role as an assistant within Roberto Martinez's Belgium setup and he is now back in the international game as France Under-21 boss, a role that will see him take charge of Les Bleus at the Paris Olympic games.
