Pep Guardiola to Reportedly Leave Manchester City, New Rumors on Front-Runner to Replace Manager

Manchester City's golden era may be coming to a close.

According to BBC Sport, the club is "preparing for Pep Guardiola's exit after Sunday's game against Aston Villa. Sources have told BBC Sport that Guardiola is expected to leave the Etihad at the end of the season, though City aren't currently commenting. Work towards Guardiola's anticipated exit is under way at City, with members of staff of the understanding he will leave. It is understood members of the squad are also anticipating his departure after the Villa game this weekend."

The Athletic's David Ornstein reported that Guardiola is indeed leaving after the season:

Ornstein, BBC Sport and football writer Fabrizio Romano reported that Enzo Maresca has been tapped as Guardiola's successor.

For all of the many rightful doubts about the legitimacy of City's accomplishments in the past decade—given the 115 charges levied against them by the Premier League primarily regarding potential breaches of Financial Fair Play—there is no question that Guardiola's tenure has been full of hardware.

Under his watch, Manchester City have won the Premier League title six times, the Champions League once and have claimed 20 total trophies. That number could be 21 if Arsenal falter down the stretch and City claim another EPL title.

It's been quite the 10 years for Guardiola at City, unquestionably one of the finest managers of his generation, if not the finest.

His likely predecessor, the 46-year-old Maresca, will have enormous shoes to fill. His time at Chelsea was rocky. A fourth-place finish and UEFA Conference League title in the 2024-25 season was a promising start, but tensions behind the scenes led to him departing the club this past January. City will hope to foster a better relationship with the manager if he indeed steps in for the departing Guardiola.

City have the players, and the budget, to support him. But there's little doubt that the man he's replacing, Guardiola, got the very best out of the ample resources he was provided.