*Legendary boss to leave on Sunday
Pep Guardiola will leave Manchester City at the end of this week. The Spaniard is set to take charge of the Blues’ final two Premier League fixtures against Bournemouth and Aston Villa before departing the Etihad.
Guardiola led City to the FA Cup on Saturday as they defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley. And that could be the last piece of silverware for the Catalan as City boss after a trophy-laden decade in charge.
City still have an outside chance of winning the title, but need to win both of their remaining games and hope Arsenal drop points against either Burnley or Crystal Palace.
Guardiola has led City to six Premier League titles including an unprecedented four in a row. He also led the Blues to their first and only Champions League triumph alongside three FA Cups, five League Cups and three Community Shields.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has long been tipped to depart Manchester at the end of this campaign, and City have now begun to tell key stakeholders ahead of an announcement on Sunday, report the Daily Mail.
Guardiola’s contribution to City will then be celebrated at an open-top bus parade through Manchester on Monday alongside his players and the women’s and academy teams.
Former Leicester and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is the leading candidate to replace Guardiola. He was one of Pep’s assistants at City in the 2022-23 season before moving to take charge of the Foxes.
Guardiola moved to City in 2016 after four years as Barcelona boss then three in charge of Bayern Munich.
He won the title in his second and third seasons at the Etihad before losing out to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. But an unprecedented four in succession followed, before Arne Slot returned the title to Anfield last term.
City lost the Champions League final to Chelsea in 2021 but Guardiola got his redemption two years later as his side defeated Inter Milan to win the European Cup for the first time.
It was Guardiola’s first Champions League title as a manager since winning the 2010-11 edition as Barcelona boss.
