Guardiola exit talk reaches decisive point
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City era is moving toward its final act, with reports now pointing to the legendary manager leaving the club at the end of the season after the FA Cup triumph at Wembley.
City beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup final, giving Guardiola another trophy and another defining Wembley moment. It was his 20th trophy as Manchester City manager, a remarkable number across a decade that changed English football.
There has still been careful public wording around the timing, but the direction is now clear in the market: City have been preparing for the moment Guardiola walks away, and succession planning has narrowed around one name.
Maresca is the only name
Fabrizio Romano has reported that there are no other names for Manchester City when Guardiola leaves. Only Enzo Maresca.
That is a major line. It means City are not treating Maresca as one candidate among many. He is the identified successor, the coach they know, the coach who understands the structure, and the coach already linked to the job for months.
Maresca’s connection with City is obvious. He worked inside the club, coached the Elite Development Squad, won Premier League 2, and was later part of Guardiola’s first-team staff during the 2022/23 treble season. He knows the football model, the internal language, the academy pathway and the expectations around positional play.
That is why City see him differently from an external appointment.
Guardiola leaves an impossible legacy
Replacing Guardiola is not a normal managerial change.
Since arriving in 2016, he has turned Manchester City into the dominant force of English football. His record includes six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup and multiple Community Shield wins.
The 2026 FA Cup added another trophy to the collection and underlined the scale of the job Maresca would inherit.
Guardiola has not only won. He has changed the tactical culture of the Premier League. Build-up structures, inverted full-backs, positional play, pressing triggers and technical centre-backs all became part of the English football mainstream during his City era.
That is why City’s succession plan has always needed more than a famous name. It needs someone who can continue the internal football language without trying to copy Pep line by line.
SEG remain central around Guardiola
Guardiola is represented by SEG – Sports Entertainment Group, one of Europe’s most powerful football agencies.
That gives this story an important agency angle. SEG are not only connected to elite players. They also operate around one of the biggest coaching figures in world football, and Guardiola’s next step will be one of the most watched management decisions in the game.
Whether he takes a break, waits for a national-team project, or eventually chooses another club, SEG will remain central to the next phase.
For now, the immediate agency story is the closing of the City chapter. Guardiola’s departure would end one of the most successful club-manager relationships in modern football.
Gestifute’s Maresca move now looks even bigger
Maresca’s agency situation is also crucial.
We previously reported that Maresca changed agents and joined Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute, a move that immediately looked significant because of the City succession noise.
Read more: Enzo Maresca changes agents, joins Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute
That switch now looks even more important. Gestifute are one of the most influential agencies in world football, and Jorge Mendes has long operated at the top end of the manager market. If Maresca becomes Manchester City manager after Guardiola, it would be a huge coaching file for the agency.
This is not just about a coach changing representation. It is about positioning before one of the biggest managerial jobs in world football opens.
Maresca’s City fit is structural
Maresca has not had Guardiola’s career, but he has the profile City trust.
He understands the demands of possession football, has worked inside the City Football Group environment and has already managed the transition from academy coaching to senior football. His Leicester promotion season showed he could take a squad, impose a model and control a long campaign.
His Chelsea spell was more complicated, but that does not erase why City value him. They are not looking at Maresca only through results. They are looking at familiarity, tactical alignment and cultural fit.
That is what makes him the preferred name when Guardiola leaves.
The succession has been hiding in plain sight
City’s plan has been visible for months.
Whenever Guardiola’s future was discussed, Maresca’s name kept returning. Not Xabi Alonso. Not Roberto De Zerbi. Not Julian Nagelsmann. Not a long shortlist of elite managers.
Maresca.
That tells its own story. City have been preparing for continuity, not a total reset. Guardiola’s exit will still be enormous, but appointing Maresca would be an attempt to keep the football structure stable while changing the face on the touchline.
For a club built so deeply around Guardiola’s ideas, that is the logical route.
A huge agency moment for the summer
For FootballAgencies readers, this is one of the biggest agency-led coaching stories of the summer.
SEG are attached to the final stage of Guardiola’s Manchester City era. Gestifute are attached to the coach positioned to replace him. That means two major agencies sit on either side of one of the most important managerial transitions in modern Premier League history.
Guardiola leaves as the defining Premier League coach of his generation. Maresca is the name City want next. If the succession is completed, it will be a historic sporting handover and a major agency win for Gestifute.
The post-Pep era is no longer an abstract idea.
It is arriving.
