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Pep Guardiola is one of the most decorated managers in the history of the game, with the Spaniard having won over 30 trophies in his managerial career. With his famous 'tiki-taka' style of play, Pep Guardiola's teams have wowed football fans around the world over the years.
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A Barcelona academy graduate himself, Guardiola began his managerial career with Barcelona B in 2007. He was appointed manager of the Barcelona first team a season later, replacing Frank Rijkaard. Guardiola outstandingly went on to win a historic treble in his first season in charge at Barcelona.
Four more trophies followed the following season as Guardiola won the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, a first-ever Club World Cup for Barcelona and a consecutive La Liga title. Guardiola spent two more seasons at Barcelona before his departure in 2012 and won seven more trophies with the Spanish giants. That included a second Champions League title in 2011.
After a year away from coaching, he joined German powerhouse Bayern Munich, where he spent three seasons at. Guardiola won the Bundesliga title in each of those three seasons in charge at Bayern Munich and won the DFB-Pokal twice as well as the Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup in his debut season. With only the UEFA Champions League trophy eluding him, Guardiola left Bayern Munich in 2016 after his contract with the Bavarians expired.
He immediately moved to the Premier League where he joined Manchester City. Although he endured a very tough debut season at the Etihad, Guardiola bounced back in style the following season. He led Manchester City to their third Premier League title with a record-breaking 100 points in his second season.
Pep Guardiola has been fortunate to manage some of the best footballers in the world over his career. Players like Lionel Messi, Kevin de Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Sergio Aguero and Xavi amongst others have played under the Spaniard. There have however been some players who many might not remember playing under Guardiola. It could be because they either played very few times or did not have a significant impact during their time under the manager.
On that note, we take a look at five players who you might not know that played under Pep Guardiola.
#5 Gerard Deulofeu
Many will remember the former Watford winger briefly playing for Barcelona under Ernesto Valverde. The Spanish winger made his debut for the Camp Nou club under Pep Guardiola in 2011. Deulofeu came on as a second-half substitute for Cesc Fabregas in a 5-0 win over Mallorca.
He also made his European debut under Guardiola, coming on against BATE Borisov in the Champions League group stage game. Guardiola, however, left after that campaign and was replaced by Tito Vilanova. Deulofeu made four appearances in all competitions under Vilanova and then signed a new contract with Blaugrana running until 2017.
He was immediately loaned out to Everton, where he made 29 appearances and scored four times. The Merseyside club were interested in keeping the Spaniard for another loan spell however Barcelona asked for him to return as they felt he was ready for first-team football.
New Barcelona boss Luis Enrique, however, sent him out on loan to La Liga side Sevilla. The stint with the Andalusians proved highly unsuccessful and he returned to Barcelona at the end of the campaign. Everton eventually signed him on a permanent deal before a loan spell with AC Milan, a return to Barcelona and a move to Premier League side Watford followed.
Deulofeu left Watford in 2020 after the club's relegation and is now in Italy playing for Udinese.
#4 Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Hojbjerg can currently be found marshaling the Tottenham Hotspur midfield. The Dane however began his professional career at Bayern Munich, arriving at the club a season before Pep Guardiola's appointment.
After appearing just twice for the first team in his debut season, Hojbjerg played eight games for the first team the following season under Pep Guardiola. Seven of those appearances came in the league. He also started in the DFB-Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund, playing the full 90 minutes before being substituted off at the 102nd minute as Bayern Munich went on to win 2-0.
The Denmark international went on to make 13 appearances the following season but was loaned out midseason to Augsburg to secure more game time. He returned to Bayern Munich after his loan spell ended and made just one appearance for the Bavarians. He came on at halftime against FC Nottingen in the DFB-Pokal before once again going out on loan this time to Schalke.
Like Guardiola, Hojbjerg also secured a move to the Premier League for the 2016-17 season, joining Southampton in a move worth €15 million. He spent four years with the Saints before joining Jose Mourinho at Tottenham in 2020.
#3 Eidur Gudjohnsen
The Icelandic striker is renowned for his exploits at Chelsea, where he played over 260 games and won five trophies over six years. Gudjohnsen joined Barcelona in 2006 for a reported €9.3 million joining the Blaugrana to replace the departing Henrik Larsson.
Two years after Gudjohnsen's arrival, Pep Guardiola became manager of Barcelona. He announced that certain senior figures in the squad would be allowed to leave the club. Gudjohnsen was widely expected to be among the players set to be released as the striker was in his thirties.
Gudjohnsen, however, remained in the side and went on to make 34 appearances in all competitions. He ended up playing a decent role in Barcelona's historic treble that campaign. The ex-Iceland international started 17 of the games and scored four times.
The Icelandic striker left Barcelona the following season and joined Ligue 1 side Monaco. Gudjohnsen went on to play for nine more clubs over the next eight years before retiring from the game in 2017.
#2 Martin Caceres
The veteran defender has played for numerous clubs in his career. Thus it is easy to forget that Caceres was one of the first players Guardiola signed in his managerial career. The Uruguayan was brought in to replace one of the five defenders released by Barcelona in Guardiola's debut campaign.
The Spanish manager signed Caceres from Villarreal for €16.5 million. The defender however went on to make just 23 appearances in all competitions with 16 of them being starts. His limited playing time was largely attributed to numerous injuries alongside Guardiola's tactical choices.
Caceres was sent out on loan the following season to Juventus with the Italian side having the option of signing him permanently. Despite his loan spell starting out well, injuries once again hampered his involvement in the side and he returned to Barcelona at the end of the season.
The Uruguay international was once again sent out on loan, this time to Sevilla, where he made 37 appearances in all competitions. The Spanish side opted to sign Caceres permanently at the end of his encouraging loan spell paying €3 million to Barcelona for the services of the defender.
Caceres returned to Juventus on loan and finally signed for the Italian outfit permanently. He joined Premier League side Southampton in 2017 and had spells at Hellas Verona, Lazio and Juventus before joining Fiorentina in 2019.
#1 Oriol Romeu
Romeu has been a Southampton player since 2015 and his Premier League sojourn began further back in 2011. The 29-year-old however began his career at Barcelona, graduating from the famous La Masia academy in 2008. He was a regular for Barcelona B for the next two years before he was handed his first-team debut by Guardiola in 2010.
Guardiola had previously included the Spanish midfielder in the squad for the 2009 Club World Cup, although he was unused. He finally made his debut in August 2010 starting in the first leg of Barcelona's Super Cup game against Sevilla. Romeu played the full 90 minutes of the game as Barcelona lost 3-1.
Romeu, however, had to wait nine months before featuring again for the first team. He came off the bench to make his La Liga debut in Barcelona's penultimate league game against Deportivo de La Coruna in May 2011.
The midfielder was sold to Chelsea the following season for €5 million and went on to make 33 appearances for the Blues across two seasons. He then had loan spells at Valencia and Stuttgart before moving to Southampton in 2015.
