Khaldoon Al Mubarak reveals the background to Guardiola's departure: Pep had been announcing the end for ten years, but this time City did not try to stop the farewell
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has publicly opened one of the most sensitive questions surrounding the end of the Guardiola era at the Etihad: how the club recognized that the decision to leave was final this time. In an interview published on 04 June 2026, Al Mubarak, according to a report by the Guardian and Manchester City's club announcement, described the long-standing relationship with Pep Guardiola as a combination of professional trust, friendship and constant management of the pressure that comes with working at the top of European football. In doing so, he said that during ten years at the club Guardiola had said many times that he could no longer continue with the same intensity, and he jokingly compared that pattern to the story of the boy who kept warning that the wolf was coming. The content of that statement is important because it shows that the departure of the most successful coach in City's history was not a sudden decision, but the end of a process that had lasted for years. The club officially confirmed Guardiola's departure on 22 May 2026, stating that the Catalan coach would step down after ten years on the bench and 20 major trophies won.
The years in which departure was a constant topic
According to the Guardian, Al Mubarak described that during a decade at the Etihad Guardiola had announced his departure “a hundred times”, but that in most of those moments the decision was neither real nor final. The City chairman was not speaking about conflict, but about the mental and emotional cost of working at a club that, under Guardiola, had become accustomed to winning trophies and almost constantly competing for the biggest titles. According to his description, after already the fourth and fifth seasons the Spaniard often wondered how much longer he could maintain the same level of energy. Al Mubarak said that over time he learned to distinguish moments of fatigue from the moment in which Guardiola truly believes the cycle is over. Precisely for that reason, when this time he judged that the decision was final, he did not try again to persuade the coach to change his mind.
That detail gives a different framework to Guardiola's entire epoch in Manchester. In public, his era was most often described through trophies, tactical innovations, record points totals and dominance in the Premier League. But Al Mubarak's words also show the internal side of such continuity: keeping a coach of Guardiola's profile did not mean only offering him a contract and sporting support, but constantly assessing how motivated he still was for daily work. Guardiola arrived at City in July 2016, and the club states in its official announcement that his ten years had a transformational effect on the team and the institution. According to the same source, even after leaving the bench he will continue to cooperate with City Football Group in the role of global ambassador, in which he is expected to provide technical advice to clubs in the group and participate in special projects.
The most successful coach in City's history
According to Manchester City's official statistics, Guardiola is leaving as the most successful manager in the club's history, with 20 trophies in all competitions. That total includes six Premier League titles, five League Cups, three FA Cups, three Community Shields, one Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. The club also states that Guardiola led 593 matches, achieved 416 wins and ended his tenure as the coach with the most matches on City's bench, surpassing Les McDowall. Those figures confirm the scale of his longevity in an environment in which top coaches are often measured season by season. Especially important is the fact that City under him won the continental treble in 2022/23, and then in the same year held the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
In the Premier League, Guardiola's City set standards that changed the way dominance in English football is assessed. According to the official Premier League website, in 2024 Guardiola became the first manager to win four consecutive English league titles, and City thereby became the first club in the history of the English top flight with four league titles in a row. Manchester City, in its own statistical overview, also recalls the 2017/18 season, when the team won 100 points, which at the time represented a Premier League record. The club recap states that Guardiola won 865 points in 380 league matches, with an average of 2.28 points per match. Such continuity explains why Al Mubarak does not reduce his influence only to trophies, but speaks about a change in the club's mentality.
An influence that outgrew the club framework
In the club interview, Al Mubarak said that Guardiola changed English football, emphasizing that his legacy cannot be measured only by the number of trophies won. According to Manchester City's announcement, the club chairman stressed that the style of play in the Premier League developed significantly during Guardiola's decade and that his work left a mark on tactical thinking, coaching methods and the approach to matches. That claim was not made in a vacuum: since Guardiola's arrival in 2016, elements that had previously been associated with his work at Barcelona and Bayern have become much more visible in English football, including building play from the goalkeeper, positional structure, frequent use of players in hybrid roles and a high intensity of ball control. Although such trends cannot be attributed to only one coach, City under Guardiola was the most visible example of their application at the highest level. That is why the discussion about his departure is at the same time sporting, tactical and institutional.
Guardiola's legacy at City also includes a change in expectations. Before his arrival, the club had already had a period of major growth under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour, with titles under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini. In the conversation for the club channels, Al Mubarak recalled precisely that continuity, pointing out that Mancini brought the first Premier League title in the club's modern era, and Pellegrini continued a successful cycle. But according to the City chairman, Guardiola raised that process to a higher level because the winning mentality became part of the club's everyday functioning. In that sense, the coach's departure is not only a change on the bench, but a test of the system that was built over the years around the idea that success must not depend on one person. That is precisely the foundation of Al Mubarak's message that Manchester City is “designed and built to win”.
Why this farewell is different
In the club's official announcement, Guardiola said that there was not one simple reason for leaving, but that he felt his time had come. That formulation is important because it confirms what Al Mubarak later described: the decision was not presented as a reaction to one season, one match or one transfer window. It is the end of a cycle after almost ten years of constant pressure, work and expectations. In a football world in which coaches rarely stay so long at the highest level, Guardiola remained at City through several generations of players, changes in the coaching staff and different phases of the team. His departure therefore opens the question of how the club preserves its identity when the person who shaped it the most is no longer in the daily operational position.
According to the Guardian, Al Mubarak said that earlier he felt like someone who had to “bring Guardiola back” in moments of doubt, but that this time he recognized the real end. That is an important difference between earlier energy crises and the current decision. The official confirmation of the departure shows that the club chose a controlled farewell, with public recognition of Guardiola's contribution and the continuation of the relationship through an ambassadorial role in City Football Group. Such a model allows City to retain part of his knowledge and reputation, but at the same time it must open space for a new coach. For Guardiola, meanwhile, such an ending allows him to leave at the peak of institutional prestige, without public conflict or a dramatic break.
The successor has not yet been officially confirmed
One of the key questions after the announcement of the departure is who will take over the team. According to the Guardian's report, Enzo Maresca is named as the coach in line to succeed Guardiola, but Manchester City, in its announcement of 04 June 2026, did not officially name a new manager. In the club conversation, Al Mubarak said that the selection process was thoughtful and structured and that the club is convinced it will bring in the best possible coach for this phase. He also said that the announcement would arrive very soon, but asked for patience. That difference between media information and official confirmation is important because, according to the available information, the club has still not publicly concluded the appointment process.
Maresca's name has logic in the broader context because he previously worked in City's system, among other things as part of Guardiola's coaching environment. Still, until the club announces its decision, it is more precise to speak about expectations and reports, rather than a confirmed appointment. For the future manager, the challenge will be extremely demanding: he will inherit a team accustomed to a dominant style, but also a dressing room that will have to adapt to a new authority after a decade of Guardiola's clear hierarchy. In addition, the summer of 2026 also brings the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, which according to the club announcement additionally affects the rhythm of preparations, the availability of internationals and transfer-window planning. That is why the choice of a new coach cannot be viewed separately from the sporting planning of the entire club.
City is trying to prove that the system is bigger than one era
Al Mubarak's main message after Guardiola's departure is that City does not intend to enter a period of lowered ambitions. In the club's official announcement, he said that Manchester City is still far from its peak and that a winning way of thinking is built into all levels of the organization. In doing so, he mentioned continuity from the ownership structure and the board to the sporting department and the players. According to the club, sporting director Hugo Viana has an important role in planning the summer, while the outcome regarding the new manager is expected in parallel. In such circumstances, City is trying to send a message of stability: Guardiola is leaving, but the structure that won trophies with him remains.
Still, in a sporting sense that transition cannot be routine. Guardiola was not only the first-team coach, but the most recognizable author of City's identity in the most successful period of the club's history. His system of play influenced the selection of players, the development of young footballers, transfers, the rhythm of training and the way the public became accustomed to watching City. The new coach will have to decide how much of that legacy to keep, and how much to adapt to his own ideas. The success of the transition will also depend on the dressing room, especially on the players who won the biggest trophies under Guardiola and who will now work without him for the first time in a long time. That is why the period after the official appointment will be just as important as the announcement of Guardiola's departure itself.
Haaland, the new generation and maintaining the winning standard
In the club interview, Al Mubarak also spoke specifically about Erling Haaland, whom he described as a player with a pronounced winning mentality and one of the key bearers of the future. According to Manchester City's announcement, the Norwegian striker arrived at the club in the summer of 2022, and the club sees him as a leader of the new phase. Such an emphasis is no coincidence: in the transition after a great coach, clubs often need clear figures around whom a new cycle can be built. In that sense, City has a combination of players who marked the Guardiola era and younger footballers who should carry the future. In the official club text, Al Mubarak mentioned Haaland, Philip Foden, Rayan Cherki and Abdukodir Khusanov among the examples of new or current standard-bearers.
For City, it is important that the coach's departure does not grow into a broader identity crisis. The history of English football shows that farewells to long-serving and trophy-winning managers can often be difficult, primarily because behind them are systems of habits that are not easy to transfer to another person. Al Mubarak, however, claims that City has an organization that can continue winning. Such a claim will be tested already in the first season after Guardiola, when the new coach will be expected to maintain competitive results and at the same time build his own authority. Pep Guardiola's departure is therefore the end of one of the most successful eras in modern club football, but also the beginning of a period in which Manchester City must prove that what it has built over the past ten years is sustainable even without the man who gave it its most recognizable shape.
Sources: - Manchester City FC – official announcement on Guardiola's departure, length of tenure, number of trophies and new role in City Football Group (link) - Manchester City FC – overview of Guardiola's statistics, records and list of trophies at Manchester City (link) - Manchester City FC – summary of Khaldoon Al Mubarak's annual interview on Guardiola's influence on English football (link) - Manchester City FC – statement by Khaldoon Al Mubarak on continuing the winning cycle, choosing a new manager and the role of Erling Haaland (link) - Premier League – analysis of Guardiola's fourth consecutive Premier League title and the historical significance of that success (link) - The Guardian – report on Khaldoon Al Mubarak's statement that Guardiola had threatened to leave several times and on the comparison with the story of the boy who cried wolf (link)