The rumors have come true and the ‘Pep Guardiola era’ has come to an end in Manchester. In 2016, 10 years after his arrival, and with 20 titles under his belt, Pep bid farewell to his longest-running coaching project. A year before his contract ended (expiring on 30 June 2027), after winning the FA Cup and League Cup…but losing in the Premier League to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in a fierce head-to-head clash that lasted until the penultimate game of the Championship.
“One more year, one more Guardiola!” the City crowd shouted at Pep after the Bournemouth game. Despite the Premier League defeat to Arsenal being confirmed, the ‘Sky Blue’ fans were evident. The future should be with Guardiola. But the decision had already been made, and the paths were about to fork.
The man from Santopedor changes “soccer” and leaves. He won 20 titles in 592 games with City. 6 league championships (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24), 3 FA Cups (2018-19, 2022-23, 2025-26), 5 League Cups (2017-18, 2018-19, He led the Sky Blues to their first-ever Champions League title (2022-23). This is no small accomplishment.
His future is currently up in the air… but there are plenty of rumors linking him to a top-level national team. For example, Italy is in the spotlight.
His successor is Maresca.
Meanwhile, his successor has already been decided. And he is Enzo Maresca, an “old acquaintance”. The Italian has returned to the Etihad club, having previously worked at youth level and as Guardiola’s own assistant, becoming part of his ‘staff’ in the season in which City won the Champions League.
After that success, the Pontecagnano Faiano man deepened his spell as a solo coach (which had previously failed at Parma), winning promotion with Leicester City and guiding Chelsea to the Conference League and Club World Cup titles.
