Manchester City expects Guardiola's departure at the end of the season: the end of a decade that changed English football
Manchester City is, according to the latest reports from British media, preparing for the departure of Pep Guardiola after the end of the 2025/26 season, although the Catalan coach has a contract until the summer of 2027. The news has not yet been officially confirmed by the club, but the Guardian states that Guardiola has already informed the players of his intention to leave the bench after the final league match of the season against Aston Villa. This would close one of the most successful chapters in the modern history of English football, marked by dominance in the Premier League, City’s first Champions League title and a long-lasting tactical influence on the entire league.
According to the available information, Manchester City expects the departure to be formalized very soon, while a transition to new technical leadership is also being considered in parallel. The club has not yet issued an official statement confirming Guardiola’s separation, so some details still have to be treated as media reporting rather than as a finally announced decision. Nevertheless, several sources in the British football environment state that City is already working on a succession plan, with Enzo Maresca, Guardiola’s former assistant, most often mentioned as a candidate to take over the team.
The contract runs until 2027, but the departure is expected earlier
Guardiola signed a contract extension with Manchester City in November 2024, and the club announced at the time that the new agreement should run until the summer of 2027. According to City’s announcement at the time, the extension meant that Guardiola would spend more than a decade in Manchester, after arriving at the club in 2016 from Bayern. The Premier League stated at the same time that the coach had considered leaving as early as the end of that season, but decided to stay because he felt the moment was not suitable for a farewell.
The current reports therefore carry additional weight: they do not speak only about the expiry of a contract, but about a possible early end to an era. The Guardian reported on 19 May 2026 that Guardiola told the players he would leave after the final league match, and that the information leaked to the public at a sensitive moment in the season’s closing stage. According to the same source, City is still fighting for the Premier League title, while Arsenal has an advantage in the table ahead of the final matches. For that reason, the decision, if confirmed, would have a sporting, emotional and organizational effect in the final days of the season.
It is important to emphasize that Manchester City, at the time of writing this text, has not officially confirmed Guardiola’s departure. This means that formulations about the coach’s future must be based on caution: the club expects a separation, British media report that the decision has been conveyed to the dressing room, but the official final framework has not yet been announced. In professional football, such situations often include legal, communication and competitive reasons why clubs wait with public confirmation until they have completed all internal steps.
Ten years of trophies and a change in the club’s identity
Guardiola took over Manchester City in the summer of 2016 and over the following decade turned the club into the most stable winning team in England. According to official Manchester City data, after winning the FA Cup in 2026, the Catalan coach reached 20 major trophies with the club. That total includes Premier League titles, domestic cups, European trophies and the club world crown, with the 2022/23 season particularly standing out, in which City won the treble.
The most important moment of Guardiola’s European era in Manchester was the 2023 Champions League title. With it, City won the trophy that had long been the main strategic objective of the ownership structure and sporting management, while Guardiola, after earlier European failures with the English club, confirmed his status as a coach capable of connecting domestic dominance with the highest continental success. UEFA recorded City’s victory in the final over Inter as the first European champion title in the club’s history.
In domestic competitions, Guardiola’s team set standards that influenced the entire league. Under his leadership, City won championships with an exceptionally high points return, developed a game with an emphasis on control of possession and imposed demands that forced rivals into faster tactical and squad adjustments. Many clubs in the Premier League have meanwhile sought coaches and players capable of responding to City’s model, which shows how much Guardiola’s influence went beyond the club’s own record.
The FA Cup as a possible final major trophy
Manchester City won the FA Cup on 16 May 2026 with a 1:0 victory against Chelsea at Wembley. According to the club’s official report, the decisive goal was scored by Antoine Semenyo in the second half, and City thereby won the eighth FA Cup in its history. The club also announced that it was Guardiola’s 20th major trophy in ten years on the bench, as well as the third FA Cup he had won as Manchester City manager.
That trophy further strengthened the impression that the possible farewell is not happening at a moment of decline without results, but in a season in which City has already won domestic cups and remained in the race for the league title. According to Manchester City’s official website, the 2026 FA Cup came after the earlier winning of the League Cup in the same season, which meant the club achieved a domestic cup double. Such an ending would be an unusually strong framework for the departure of a coach who spent a large part of his mandate setting record standards.
After the FA Cup final, according to Manchester City’s announcement, Guardiola said that it was a special moment that should be appreciated. In the same statement, he mentioned that John Stones and Bernardo Silva are leaving, but also that the team still has two matches in which it hopes to fight for the Premier League. That statement further emphasized the transitional atmosphere at the club: alongside the possible separation from the coach, City is also facing the departures of important players who marked part of a successful era.
The Premier League finish further complicates the timing of the announcement
According to Premier League data published ahead of the season’s closing stage, Arsenal had 82 points after 37 matches, while Manchester City had 77 points after 36 matches and had a game in hand. The league stated that Arsenal can secure the title with a victory in the final round against Crystal Palace, but also that there are scenarios in which the decision can happen earlier, depending on City’s results. That is precisely why the news about Guardiola’s future comes at a particularly sensitive sporting moment.
For players, the coaching staff and fans, such information can have a dual effect. On the one hand, it can create an additional emotional incentive to finish the season with a trophy or at least a winning run. On the other hand, every change at the top of the technical leadership can open questions of concentration, motivation and future roles within the team. In the Guardiola era, City often showed the ability to maintain a high level of performance in the season’s closing stage, but this situation goes beyond the usual sporting framework because it concerns the person who defined the club’s identity.
The Guardian states that the news leaked while Guardiola was preparing for the match against Bournemouth, that is, before the final duel against Aston Villa. If such a sequence is confirmed, the club will have to balance competitive focus with the need to communicate the end of a ten-year mandate in a dignified way. In practice, this means that any official announcement would have to be timed so that it does not disrupt match preparations, but also so that it provides the public with clear information about the future.
Maresca is mentioned as the successor
Enzo Maresca is mentioned in British reports as the most likely successor. The Guardian states that City has already chosen Guardiola’s former assistant, while other media report on a three-year agreement in principle. Maresca has already worked at Manchester City, including a period in which he was part of the coaching environment that knows the club’s football philosophy well. It is precisely that connection with the existing model of play that could be important if the club wants to avoid a sudden tactical cut.
Maresca attracted additional attention in England through his work at Leicester City, with whom he secured a return to the Premier League. He later led Chelsea, and the Guardian states that his departure from the London club at the beginning of 2026 left open questions regarding compensation and contractual relations. According to the available information, Chelsea could seek compensation if a move to City is confirmed, which means that the appointment of a new coach would not be only a sporting issue, but also a legal and business one.
For Manchester City, the choice of Guardiola’s successor will be a strategic decision with long-term consequences. The club must assess whether it wants continuity through a coach who knows the system, or a broader shift toward a new model. Maresca would, if the appointment happens, take over a team with high expectations, strong infrastructure and the pressure of comparison with one of the most successful coaches in Premier League history. Such a transition is often more demanding than the change of a name on the bench itself because it includes rebuilding authority in the dressing room, redefining relationships with leading players and decisions about the summer transfer window.
The broader significance of a possible departure
Guardiola’s departure from Manchester City would be one of the most important managerial separations in English football in the last several decades. His mandate was not only a series of trophies, but also a process in which City built a recognizable style of play, a global sporting image and a reputation as a club that plans several seasons ahead. In that sense, the coach’s departure does not mean only a change on the bench, but also a test of the sustainability of the entire system that has been developing for years around his ideas.
For the Premier League, such an outcome could open a new phase of competitive balance. Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and other rivals are already adapting to changes in the market and managerial cycles, and City’s transition after Guardiola could change the dynamics of the fight for the top. Nevertheless, the club retains a strong sporting structure, financial power and experience in managing an elite team, so it cannot be assumed that the coach’s departure would automatically mean a decline in results.
The greatest unknown remains the very pace of the transition. If Guardiola really leaves after the end of the season, the successor will have to quickly make decisions about preparations, transfers and the role of players who were key in the previous system. According to City’s announcements after the FA Cup, the club is already talking about the departures of certain experienced players, which further emphasizes that the summer of 2026 could be the beginning of a new stage. Until official confirmation, however, the main fact remains that Manchester City is on the threshold of possibly the most important change since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016.
Sources:
- Manchester City FC – official announcement on Guardiola’s contract extension until 2027 (link)
- Manchester City FC – official report on winning the 2026 FA Cup and Guardiola’s 20th major trophy with the club (link)
- Manchester City FC – official analysis of the domestic cup double and Guardiola’s trophy record (link)
- Manchester City FC – Guardiola’s statement after the 2026 FA Cup final (link)
- Premier League – official announcement on Guardiola’s contract extension and the context of his stay until 2027 (link)
- Premier League – official overview of the title race finish in the 2025/26 season (link)
- The Guardian – report on Guardiola’s expected departure from Manchester City at the end of the season (link)
- The Guardian – report that Guardiola informed the players of his departure and that Enzo Maresca is mentioned as successor (link)