Pep Guardiola set to leave Manchester City after season, reports say

LONDON: Pep Guardiola is expected to end his long and highly successful spell as Manchester City manager after this season, according to multiple reports published on Monday.

Guardiola, 55, is due to step down following City's final home league game against Aston Villa after the visit of Bournemouth and Villa in the closing stretch of the campaign. The Daily Mail and The Athletic were cited as saying he will leave after Villa's trip to the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City had not commented on the speculation. The club has planned a parade through Manchester on Monday to mark its League Cup and FA Cup successes this season, an event that could also serve as a farewell to Guardiola.

Decorated spell at City

Guardiola has been in charge since arriving in England in 2016 and has collected 20 trophies with City, including six Premier League titles and the club's first Champions League crown. He still has a chance to add another trophy this season if City win their last two matches against Bournemouth and Aston Villa and Arsenal fail to beat Crystal Palace in Sunday's final round of Premier League fixtures.

Guardiola has one year left on his contract, but talk of a possible departure at the end of the season has been circulating for months. After going without silverware in the 2024/25 season for the first time in seven years, City recovered strongly. Their win over Chelsea in Saturday's FA Cup final sealed a domestic cup double, and they remain in contention to overtake Arsenal for what would be a seventh league title in nine seasons.

Possible successor and wider influence

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who previously worked on Guardiola's coaching staff at City, is reportedly among the leading candidates to replace him next season.

Before moving to Manchester, Guardiola had already built a formidable reputation in European football. During four years at his boyhood club Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, he won two Champions League titles and three La Liga crowns. He then claimed three more league titles in three seasons with Bayern Munich.

A much shorter stay had initially been expected when City brought him to the Premier League. Instead, his methods and style have had a major impact on English football over the past decade. Backed by Abu Dhabi ownership, City emerged from the shadow of local rivals Manchester United to become the leading force in the domestic game.

Guardiola's possession-based approach has been widely imitated across different levels of the sport. Rival clubs have also turned to coaches influenced by him. Arsenal, managed by his former assistant Mikel Arteta, are close to a first league title in 22 years. Liverpool manager Arne Slot has said his coaching ideas were shaped by watching Guardiola's Barcelona side, while incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso moved to Bayern late in his playing career to experience working under Guardiola.

Exit timing and financial case

The timing of Guardiola's expected departure comes as Manchester City continue to await the outcome of an investigation into more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations. The club was first charged by the Premier League in February 2023, and the hearing before an independent commission concluded in December 2024.

The case has continued to hang over City's on-field achievements ever since, while uncertainty now also surrounds the future of the manager who oversaw the most successful era in the club's history.