Pep Guardiola confirms City exit after ten years

(AP)

MANCHESTER, May 22: Pep Guardiola confirmed what Manchester City fans had been fearing. The club’s most successful manager is leaving, bringing to a close a trophy-laden, 10-year spell in which he established City as one of major forces in Europe and changed the face of English soccer.

Guardiola, who had a further year left on his City contract, will take charge of his final game against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.

“Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it’s my time,” Guardiola said. “Nothing is eternal, if it was, I would be here. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City.” City said Guardiola would take up a role as global ambassador.

Enzo Maresca – the for-mer Chelsea manager who was previously assistant to Guardiola at City – is the favorite to take on the daunt-ing task of filling Guardiola’s shoes after a decade of un-precedented dominance.

Since joining City in the summer of 2016, Guardiola led the Abu Dhabi-backed team to six Premier League titles and the Champions League for the first time in 2023.

He won 17 major trophies in all, including a domestic double this season of the English League Cup and the FA Cup. He has won 35 ma-jor titles across his coaching career including his time at Barcelona and Bayern Mu-nich. Guardiola’s departure marks the end of one of the most transformative eras not only in the history of Manchester City but also in modern English football it-self. During his decade-long reign, the Spaniard revolu-tionised the club’s identity with a fearless attacking phi-losophy, relentless pursuit of perfection and a style of football that set new bench-marks across Europe.

From turning City into serial Premier League cham-pions to finally delivering the elusive UEFA Champions League crown, Guardiola leaves behind a legacy built on consistency, innovation and sustained excellence rarely witnessed in the mod-ern game.