3 min readUpdated: May 22, 2026 06:59 PM IST
In what is being termed as an end of an era, Manchester City announced that their decorated manager Pep Guardiola will be leaving the club at the end of the season with the match against Aston Villa on Sunday his last as City boss. With the Premier League title race already over with Arsenal clinching it earlier in the week, Guardiola leaves City with a domestic double– the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
Guardiola, who took charge of City in 2016, has won six Premier League titles — including four in a row — three FA Cups, five League Cups and the Champions League, but his side have not won the league in the last two years.
Although City sealed the domestic cup double this season, Guardiola saw his dreams of a seventh Premier League crown dashed when they drew 1-1 at Bournemouth on Tuesday to hand Arsenal the title, with City set to finish second. The club also announced that the North Stand of the Etihad will be renamed as the Pep Guardiola Stand.
“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. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City,” Guardiola said in a statement issued by the club.
Pep Guardiola to step down after incredible decade as City Manager 🩵
🔗 https://t.co/u84AZYY23t pic.twitter.com/QYTPARaprO
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 22, 2026
“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. We worked. We suffered. We fought. And we did things our own way. Our way,” he added.
North Stand to be renamed ‘The Pep Guardiola Stand.’ 🩵
Read more 🔗 https://t.co/IcuzmBkVXV pic.twitter.com/SrUqawbHWx
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 22, 2026
Guardiola also looked back fondly at his time in Manchester, remembering how the city came together after the Manchester Arena attack while also describing how the club helped him through a tough period when he lost his mother to COVID.
“The fans, the staff, the people of Manchester, you gave me strength when I needed it most,” he added.
“Players don’t forget – every single instant, moment, me, my staff, this club, everything. What we have done, we have done it for all of you. And you have been just exceptional. You don’t know it yet, but you are leaving a legacy. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for trusting me. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for loving me… Tony Walsh said in his unforgettable poem, ‘This is the place’. I’m sorry, Tony: this is my place.”
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