Guardiola says he has one more year left at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola used a rare public reset of the timeline around his future to say he has “one more year” left at Manchester City, a reminder that even the club’s most dominant era now carries a clear question about succession.

Guardiola signed a two-year contract extension on November 21, 2024, tying him to Manchester City until June 2027 after earlier reporting had suggested his previous deal would expire in 2025. If he sees out the contract, he will have spent more than a decade in charge at the Etihad Stadium, having taken over in 2016 and turned City into the defining force in English football.

The scale of that run explains why the latest clarification matters. When City announced the extension, the club said Guardiola had already won 18 major trophies, including six Premier League titles and one UEFA Champions League. Those numbers place City’s current era in a different category from the usual managerial cycle, which is why every hint about Guardiola’s future immediately affects the club’s long-term planning.

Guardiola has also made clear that the speculation does not go away. He has said the noise around his future happens every year, but the fact that he restated the remaining length of his deal now suggests City are entering a period in which stability and preparation for change have to coexist. Reports in 2026 have already linked Enzo Maresca with a possible succession role, a sign that the conversation is moving beyond Guardiola himself and toward the question of who could inherit one of the most demanding jobs in world football.

The uncertainty has been sharpened by movement around his staff. Lorenzo Buenaventura, Guardiola’s long-serving fitness coach, is reported to be set to leave at the end of the season, adding another possible break in continuity inside a set-up that has been one of City’s competitive advantages for years. Guardiola had also previously considered leaving at the end of the season before deciding he had to stay, underlining that the pressure around his own future has been building for some time.

For Manchester City, the next phase is no longer a theoretical discussion. Guardiola’s contract still gives the club time, but the growing focus on successors and staff changes suggests planning for a post-Guardiola era has already begun, even as the manager continues to anchor the team’s present.