Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola won 20 trophies with the Sky Blues. Photo by Peter Powell/EPA-EFE
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will resign after 10 seasons with the Sky Blues, the English Premier League soccer franchise announced Friday.
Guardiola’s contract was to run until June 2027. But the 55-year-old will coach the Sky Blues for the final time when they host Aston Villa in their Premier League finale May 24 in Manchester, England. He will remain with the franchise as a global ambassador.
“It has been the experience of my life. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been 10 years,” Guardiola told reporters at a news conference Friday. “I can’t be more grateful for the amount of love and affection I’ve had for many, many years.”
Guardiola said he thought about making the decision “for a while.” He also said a new face leading the Sky Blues will be “really good for everyone.”
“I think the club needs a new manager, new energy, with the incredible players that we have right now,” Guardiola said. “Start to write another chapter.”
Guardiola won 20 trophies with the Sky Blues, including six Premier League crowns, five League Cups, three FA Cups, three FA Community Shields, a Champions League title, a UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
That stretch included a rare treble — with the Sky Blues winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in 2022-23. They added to that haul with UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup titles, becoming the first English team in history to win soccer’s five biggest club competitions in a calendar year.
Guardiola’s Sky Blues won the Premier League four-consecutive times from 2021 to 2024. They placed third in 2024-25, 13 points behind champion Liverpool.
The 2025-26 Sky Blues (23-5-9), who won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, will finish second in the 2025-26 Premier League standings, behind champion Arsenal (25-5-7).
“I did my best,” Guardiola said. “I gave everything, until the last drop of what I have. I’m leaving with an incredible sense of peace in my soul that I gave everything to this club.”
The Sky Blues will host fourth-place Aston Villa (18-11-8) at 11 a.m. EDT Sunday at Etihad Stadium.
“Over the last 10 years, honesty and trust have formed the bedrock on which we have navigated every situation together with Pep — always understanding that we could find the right answer together,” Sky Blues chairman Khaldooon Al Mubarak told ManCity.com. “Today, the right answer is for Pep to finish his journey as the manager of Manchester City.
“There have been points along the way when he could have stopped, and it would have been enough. Somehow, Pep always found new energy and pushed on, finding different and innovative ways to continue winning and delivering success.
“As a result, the club has a decade of memories and success to be forever grateful for, and much more than that, an evolution that cannot be undone.”
