Pep Guardiola will leave his role as Manchester City manager this summer, ending one of the most successful tenures in Premier League history, with former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca expected to replace him.
Multiple sources briefed on the situation say Guardiola is preparing to depart City at the end of a season in which his side have won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, with Saturday’s triumph over Chelsea securing a 20th major trophy for the 55-year-old during a 10-year spell at the Etihad.
Maresca is now expected to take over at City, who may yet win this season’s Premier League, four months after his exit from Chelsea.
The Athletic revealed in December that Maresca amid a growing sense that Guardiola would bring the curtain down on a glittering decade at City.
Maresca went on to exit Stamford Bridge in January and The Athletic disclosed that Maresca informed Chelsea — — he was talking to City representatives about his candidacy for the role.
Guardiola’s City contract had been due to run until June 2027, having last signed fresh terms in November 2024. Amid continued speculation in recent months the club’s position has consistently been that he has one more year on his deal and they have always been hopeful he would stay.
City have two games of the campaign remaining, against Bournemouth and Aston Villa, and these will now mark the final matches of a glorious reign in which the Catalan has guided City to six Premier League titles and their first Champions League triumph, in 2023.
The home match against Aston Villa on May 24 — which could see them clinch the title if they can overturn leaders Arsenal’s two-point advantage — would be the last of Guardiola’s record-setting tenure as City manager.
Guardiola had shut down questions over his future in the build up to and aftermath of Saturday’s FA Cup final. “One more year of contract,” he replied when asked during his pre-match press conference if the cup final would be his final trip to Wembley as City manager.
“Rumours?,” he responded, when asked about his future by TNT Sports after the game. He then made a hasty exit and added: “Have a lovely evening,”
The timing of Guardiola’s exit comes with the outcome of — and any potential punishments from — the investigation into the more than 115 charges of alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations still to be communicated. City deny the allegations.
City’s long-serving director of football Txiki Begiristain, a close ally of Guardiola, left the club at the end of last season. Sporting CP’s Hugo Viana was subsequently announced as his replacement.
Guardiola, who previously spent four years as Barcelona head coach and three at Bayern Munich before taking the City job in the summer of 2016, has frequently spoken about the future in recent months.
When asked the day after The Athletic’s story broke in December, Guardiola refused to confirm outright he would remain at City beyond this June, despite having a contract which runs until the summer of 2027.
“I still enjoy it,” Guardiola said, per City’s website, when asked about beating Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. “Still, we are much better than last season but not the team we should be. That requires time. Hopefully, next season and the end of this season we can do it.”
Maresca has worked at the Manchester club before, leading City’s Under-21s for the 2020-21 season and returning as a first-team assistant to Guardiola in the summer of 2022.
The 46-year-old joined Chelsea in the summer of 2024 after guiding Leicester City to promotion from the Championship. He led Chelsea to Champions League qualification and won the Conference League and Club World Cup during his debut season in charge.
The Italian left the west-London club on January 1 despite being under contract until 2029. He had previously sparked uncertainty over his future in December after he said that the 48 hours before their win against Everton had been his “worst since I joined the club, because many people didn’t support us”.
He was replaced by Liam Rosenior, who left his role as Strasbourg head coach to occupy the vacancy, who was himself dismissed in April.
City have struggled to maintain their dizzying levels since winning a record-extending fourth successive title in 2023-24, and finished third in the league last season — 13 points behind eventual champions Liverpool.
They ended the campaign without a trophy and were knocked out of the Club World Cup by Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal in the round of 16 last summer.
This term, they have again underperformed at times and began the calendar year by going four games without a win in the Premier League, including a 2-0 defeat by city rivals Manchester United. They were also beaten 3-1 by Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League, but overcame Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final to secure the season’s first piece of silverware.
City are now five points behind league leaders Arsenal, having re-ignited hopes of another title after last month’s win over Mikel Arteta’s side, before handing the impetus back to the north London club after dropping points against Everton.
