Jamie Carragher has suggested that Pep Guardiola's departure decision will have a positive effect on Manchester City's players. Word of the Spaniard's anticipated exit broke on Monday evening, barely 48 hours after an FA Cup success which brought Guardiola his 20th piece of silverware as City manager.
Having already secured the Carabao Cup earlier in the campaign, a domestic treble remains within touching distance for City. To take the Premier League title race down to the final day, though, they must overcome Bournemouth on Tuesday in the wake of Arsenal's win against Burnley.
Andoni Iraola's outfit are unbeaten in their previous 16 league outings and while City can point to a comparable run, title challengers Arsenal were undone by the Cherries earlier in the campaign.
Nevertheless, Carragher is confident that news of Guardiola's anticipated departure - which emerged before Arsenal's Burnley win - will spur the City squad to cap the Spaniard's trophy-laden tenure with another Premier League crown.
He said on Sky Sports: "If City play well, they'll win (vs Bournemouth). I don't think the Pep news will impact the players in a negative way. It might make no difference, but if it was going to make any difference, I think it would be in a positive way."
Carragher added: "What that guy has done, what he's done for the players and what they've achieved together. What a way to send him off it would be to win a domestic treble."
Carragher also weighed in on the timing of the departure announcement emerging alongside reports that Enzo Maresca is set to step into Guardiola's shoes.
He added: "I don't suppose Manchester City or Pep Guardiola can do anything about the timing. They have to let the club know."
"The next guy coming in, we hear it's Maresca - he would have to have information about this. He would have staff he would have to speak to. The closer you get to the end of the season, the more people that know. Eventually it comes out."
Guardiola's swansong at the helm of City comes this weekend against Aston Villa, where he'll be keeping his fingers crossed that the Premier League title remains within reach.
Whether or not he gets his hands on a seventh Premier League crown, a bus parade to mark the achievements of the entire club, including silverware claimed by the women's first team and academy, has already been confirmed.
It is also widely expected to serve as a farewell occasion for City stalwarts John Stones and Bernardo Silva, with both players departing at the end of the campaign.
