Guardiola turns the page on Manchester City after a decade of achievements

Pep Guardiola has officially decided to leave Manchester City at the end of the 2025/2026 season, ending his legendary 10-year career in which he won 20 trophies.

Guardiola and Manchester City lost the Premier League title this season, after stumbling in a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on Tuesday night, as the difference with leaders Arsenal became 4 points before the last round, giving  the Spanish coach Mikel Arteta the chance to lead Arsenal to their first title in the competition in 22 years.

This is the first time in Guardiola's career that he has lost the league title in any country twice in a row, and despite this, the coach has achieved remarkable achievements with Manchester City, most notably the league title 6 times, and the Champions League once.

Khalifa Guardiola

Prominent media reported that Guardiola will leave Manchester City at the end of the current season, while it was later revealed that former Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca would be his successor.

It was initially believed that Guardiola would leave Manchester City at the end of last season, but he surprised everyone by signing a new two-year contract until 2027.

This season, Manchester City have largely exceeded expectations after beating Arsenal until the last minute for the league title, and also achieved the domestic double by winning the FA Cup and League Cup.

Guardiola remained cautious when asked about his future throughout the season, and his decision remained under wraps until the final week of the 2025-2026 season.

Exhaustion after a decade

The Telegraph reported that Guardiola hosted a rival coach in his office at the Etihad Stadium last season and told him he wanted to leave Manchester City, but he was unable to do so at the time.

Guardiola felt compelled to stay in order to give Manchester City enough time to regain stability after the departure of former sporting director Cheque Begerstein, although he "told his teammate that he was feeling tired and needed to rest".

He decided to leave now because he "liked the idea of completing 10 full years with City" and that he "can leave at the top", after the domestic duo this season gave him a "sense of relief".

International destination

Regarding his next move, the Telegraph report indicated  that Guardiola will head to coaching the national teams at his next stop.

"Expectations among those close to Guardiola indicate that his next destination will most likely be to coach a national team, and there are two teams that particularly impress Guardiola, Brazil and England," the report explained.

"Guardiola grew up fascinated by the power of the Brazilian yellow shirt, and he admires not only the football culture there, but also the fact that Brazil have not won a World Cup since 2002, but Carlo Ancelotti, perhaps wisely or perhaps in anticipation of what might happen, renewed his contract with Brazil even before this summer's tournament."

"The same goes for Thomas Tuchel, whose new contract with England extends until Euro 2028."

The FA had already reached out to Guardiola before signing Tuchel and received some positive signals, but he could be a good option in the future.