Pep Guardiola to Step Down as Manchester City Manager at End of 2025-26 Season

Manchester City said Friday that Pep Guardiola will step down as first-team manager at the end of the 2025-26 season, bringing to a close a decade in which he became the most successful manager in the club’s history. The club said Guardiola will stay within the wider City Football Group organization in a new “Global Ambassador” role, providing technical advice to clubs in the group and working on specific projects and collaborations.

City said Guardiola’s final match in charge will come Sunday against Aston Villa, the club’s last league game of the season. The announcement did not name a successor.

In comments released by the club, Guardiola said: “Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it’s my time. Nothing is eternal, if it was, I would be here.”

Guardiola joined City in July 2016 and will leave after 10 years in charge. Over that span, the club credited him with 20 major trophies: six Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions League, three FA Cups, five League Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup, one UEFA Super Cup and three FA Community Shields.

Those numbers underpin the scale of a tenure that reshaped City’s modern history. Under Guardiola, City won the club’s first Champions League title and completed the treble in 2022-23. The club also pointed to the 2017-18 side’s 100-point Premier League campaign as one of the defining achievements of his time in Manchester.

City described Guardiola as the most successful manager in its history, a status built on both sustained domestic dominance and the European title that had long eluded the club. Sunday’s game will be his 593rd in charge, according to the club.

The timing is notable because outside reporting had previously said Guardiola’s contract ran through 2027, meaning he is leaving with a year left on that reported deal. The club’s statement on Friday did not address that point directly, but it made clear he is not making a clean break from the organization.

Instead, Guardiola will move into a strategic role inside City Football Group, the parent company that oversees Manchester City and a network of clubs around the world. The club said his duties as global ambassador will include technical advice and work on selected collaborations and projects, signaling that his connection to City’s ownership structure will continue even after he leaves day-to-day management.

Guardiola also struck an emotional note in the club’s announcement, saying: “Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City.”

Club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak framed the decision as the close of a long partnership. “Over the last ten years honesty and trust have formed the bedrock on which we have navigated every situation together with Pep,” he said. He added: “Today the right answer is for Pep to finish his journey as the Manager of Manchester City.” Sunday against Aston Villa will be Guardiola’s 593rd and final match in charge.