Manchester City have been rocked by claims that Pep Guardiola could be about to end his nine-year association with the club.
The Premier League champions were emphatically eliminated from Europe by Real Madrid last night, thanks to a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick in the Bernabeu. The result leaves Guardiola's team fighting on just one front now – the FA Cup – with a 17-point deficit surely too much even for Manchester City to overhaul Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
To add to the disappointment in Madrid, John Stones left the field early in the first half with a suspected knee injury, with Erling Haaland a doubt for Sunday's clash with Liverpool at the Etihad when Premier League action returns.
Pep Guardiola could leave Manchester City, with a replacement lined up already
Guardiola – ranked at no.5 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest managers ever – signed a contract extension with City in the autumn to keep him in the Premier League until 2027.
Since then, however, City have won just six of their last 14 Premier League fixtures, as the club struggles without 2024 Ballon d'Or winner, Rodri. The club addressed their deficiencies in the January transfer window with £200 million worth of new signings, however, in a clear statement of intent to salvage the season.
A report from Spanish outlet Fichajes claims that despite Guardiola's recent commitment to the cause, his “continuity is not assured” and “uncertainty” remains over his future.
The claims do not provide a timeframe for his departure and could be talking more long-term, but state that Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola – Ranked at no.32 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now – is being eyed as a successor.
“Manchester City know that if Guardiola decides not to stay, they will need a replacement who maintains their playing philosophy and continues to exploit the talent in their squad to the maximum,” the report claims. “The future of the Spanish coach will depend on how Guardiola's situation at City is resolved and the decisions that the English club makes for next season.”
Despite this report, FourFourTwo understands that Guardiola had agreed to sign a new contract a while before the announcement came in November 2024, meaning that the Catalan has been committed to the club long before the downturn in form.
For that reason, it's hard to imagine that Guardiola will be eyeing an early exit from the club – especially as he has never broken a contract as a manager before.
Guardiola has won 16 trophies at Manchester City and a further 20 in his managerial career. Since moving to Manchester in 2016, he has won 27 individual honours.
