Football legend, Thierry Henry suggests Pep Guardiola is 'not well mentally' as he likens the Manchester City coach’s split from wife to his own divorce

 Football legend, Thierry Henry has claimed that Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola is 'not mentally well' amid his split from wife Cristina Serra and Manchester City's difficult season. 

 

 

City suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Sunday, February 2, leaving them fifth and 15 points off league leaders Liverpool.

 

City boss, Guardiola is reportedly having a difficult time in his private life.

 

In January, reports claimed that he had split from his wife Cristina after 30 years together as she had seen his decision to stay with City until 2027 as the final straw.

That bombshell followed a worrying episode in November when Guardiola emerged with scratches on his face after City's 3-3 Champions League draw with Feyenoord. 'I cut myself with my fingernail (during the game),' he said. 'I want to hurt myself.’ 

 

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry went through a divorce shortly after joining Barcelona in 2007 and sympathizes with Guardiola. 

'Do I feel sorry about what's happening to Man City and Pep? Yeah I do, in one thing,' Henry told Sky Sports. 

 

'It's not easy to deal with what Pep has to deal with outside of football. I went through that when I went to Barcelona. It's not easy to deal with stuff like that, when you're not well mentally.

 

'You can see that he's not his usual self. I had to deal with it when I went to Barcelona, I can tell you it's not easy. No one would like to deal with that while you have to perform all the time. So I think we can understand. 

 

'Now if you go back on the field, it's not good enough. I don't think that they can cope whenever a team can deal with playing them all the way to ninety minutes and challenge them and look them in their eyes all the way.'

 

Guardiola, 53, and Serra married in an intimate ceremony on the outskirts of Barcelona in 2014 but have now decided to part ways.

 

The couple, who met in 1994, had been living apart for more than five years after Serra moved back to Barcelona with one of their three daughters, Valentina, 17, while Guardiola remained in Manchester.

 

They have two other children together: Maria, 24, and Marius, 22.

 

Guardiola and Serra had remained a couple despite not living in the same city and have regularly been pictured together in the years since.

 

 

Henry offered his sympathy having gone through a similar experience. 

 

In 2007, Henry joined the winning machine Barcelona. Having been married to Claire Merry since 2003, all seemed perfect with the couple, who had purchased a home in London and had a two-year-old daughter.

 

In September 2007, a divorce court judge in London granted the divorce, with Merry arguing Henry's 'unreasonable behaviour' was the reason.

 

The Frenchman didn't contest the grounds, and the divorce was granted during a one-minute hearing at the High Court's Principal Registry.

 

 

Having met when Henry and Merry starred in a TV advert for Renault, model Merry was awarded close to her requested sum of £10millon in 2008, with Henry said to be on around £130,000-a-week in Spain.