Manchester, May 19: Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking, 10-year tenure at Manchester City might be coming to a close, according to reports in the British media.
City wouldn’t comment on stories from outlets including national broadcaster the BBC and the Daily Mail that the 55-year-old Guardiola is expected to leave the club at the end of this season. He has a year left on his contract.
Enzo Maresca, the former Chelsea manager who was previously assistant to Guardiola at City, is the leading contender to take over. There was no immediate response from Maresca’s representatives when contacted by The Associated Press.Guardiola, who has won 17 major trophies at City since arriving in English soccer in 2016, has repeatedly been asked in recent weeks whether he would be staying at City beyond this season.In overseeing the most successful period in City’s history in his decade in charge, Guardiola has spent longer at the club than he did at Barcelona (2008-12) and Bayern Munich (2013-16).His biggest achievement at City has been winning the Premier League-Champions League-FA Cup treble in the 2022-23 season, emulating the feat of Manchester United in 1999.Guardiola’s City team has won the Premier League six times and became the only team in the nearly 140-year history of English soccer to win four top-flight league titles in a row (2021-24), the first team to earn 100 points in a top-flight season (2017-18), and the first team to win the domestic treble of the league, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season (2018-19). (AP)
