Pep Guardiola is leaving Manchester City at the end of the season, closing a decade in charge of the club. His record stands at twenty trophies, including six Premier League titles and the club's first-ever Champions League, won in 2023. He will not, however, disappear from the organisation: he will keep an institutional tie with the City Football Group as a global ambassador, without any direct sporting responsibility.
The departure comes as the club goes through a less successful stretch. Manchester City finished the season behind Arsenal, the English champions, and has not won the domestic title in two seasons. At the same time, an independent inquiry into more than one hundred alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations remains open: its verdict has not been delivered since the hearings closed in December 2024.
Beyond the trophy haul, Guardiola's influence extends well past Manchester City. His possession-based approach has spread across every level of English football, and several of his former assistants now manage leading clubs, carrying his tactical imprint to the top of the European game. His arrival was part of the model of clubs backed by sovereign capital, opened by Abu Dhabi's takeover of City in 2008, a model now under heightened regulatory pressure.
Several points remain disputed. Actors differ on how much weight to give the financial inquiry, seen by some as a factor that tempers the record and by others as a secondary matter. The succession is still open: one name circulates as a likely favourite, while other voices leave the question entirely unresolved. Finally, Guardiola's public stances, notably his comments on Gaza, are central to some readings and marginal in others.
