If this is Guardiola’s last City season he will be as hard to replace as Ferguson at United | Jamie Jackson

Manchester City versus Arsenal on Sunday is a showdown for the ages. Second hosting first at what is likely to be a febrile Etihad Stadium might well be scripted by a Hollywood studio. Enter Pep Guardiola and the box‑office subplot of whether this could be his swansong season and, as such, a farewell tilt at the championship of an epoch-defining period piloting City.

Lose to Arsenal and Guardiola’s hope of a seventh crown will be all but extinguished. He would have “only” the FA Cup left to add to 16 major honours won while in charge at City, the last being last month’s fifth League Cup triumph – over Arsenal. Defeat the visitors, however, and you would not bet against Guardiola leading his team home for a grandstand finish to the campaign – and his tenure. City would be only three points behind Arsenal with an extra match to play.

Either scenario, though, may not affect Guardiola’s future. The Catalan has a recently-signed contract until summer 2027, yet there are numerous signs he may exit 12 months early. Asked a fortnight ago whether City’s hierarchy had asked him for clarification regarding his future, Guardiola stonewalled. “I spoke about that in the past many, many times,” he said.

Except the question was purposely phrased differently to previous inquiries. Previous ones wondered if the chair, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, and the rest of the executive had, unsolicited, been informed by Guardiola that he would see out the full length of his deal. This one asked if Mubarak et al had approached him. A nuance, maybe, but a prescient one given the international break was in late March, two months before the end of the season and a summer when a new manager has to be hired if the 55-year-old does indeed leave. Put simply: surely the club would need to know by then so succession plans could be put in place.

Rewind, too, to Guardiola’s celebrations after City defeated Arsenal at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final. Was there an extra joy and relief in his demeanour due to the triumph meaning he will leave in the close season as a winner, whatever occurs in the league and FA Cup, in which City face Southampton in next Saturday’s semi-final? If there is an element here of reading the runes, the talk at the Etihad Campus is also that of Guardiola signing off in May.