Pep Guardiola to leave Man City at the end of the season

Tom Weber

• Updated: 31 Mar 2026 14:49 BST
• 4 min read

News

Pep Guardiola is set to depart Manchester City this summer, according to a reliable source.

The Spaniard is under contract at the Etihad until next year, but there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that he will call it quits on his legendary spell at Man City after this season.

Uncertainty over the future of Guardiola has reigned since the start of the campaign. In late 2025, it emerged that Man City were putting plans in place to replace the 55-year-old should he indeed decide to walk away from his job this summer.

Talks were held with Enzo Maresca, then at the helm of Chelsea, and this, in part, contributed to the Italian's acrimonious exit from the Stamford Bridge club on 1 January. The Blues felt it was unprofessional of their head coach to hold talks with another club in the middle of the season.

Maresca, who was previously Guardiola's assistant at City, is believed to be the heir apparent to his former mentor, and it seems that he won't have to wait for his chance to replace the former Barcelona boss much longer.

Guardiola to quit Man City

L'Equipe reports that it is almost certain that Guardiola will leave his role in charge of Man City this summer. After a decade of dominance, the Spaniard is ready to pass the baton to someone else.

That someone else will most likely be Maresca. The report adds that executives from around European football are unanimous that the ex-Chelsea boss will be named Man City's next head coach.

This information tallies with reporting from Sky Germany, which similarly asserted last week that Guardiola will move on and probably take a break from coaching this summer.

The report added that Xabi Alonso and Vincent Kompany are also being considered by City, but acknowledged that an appointment of the latter, in particular, is highly unlikely as he is not expected to leave Bayern Munich.

Speaking to the German outlet, Matthias Sammer, who worked with Guardiola at Bayern, urged the legendary coach to take a breather and added that his "gut feeling" is telling him that Pep will quit.

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