City threw away a two-goal lead at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to fall six points behind leaders Arsenal.
The nature of the draw and City’s inability to put serious pressure on their Premier League title rivals has raised more doubts over Guardiola’s future.
There is growing sense among City’s rivals and within Premier League circles that Guardiola will leave after 10 years in charge and that the club have started to plan for the possibility of his departure.
City sources have dismissed such claims as “pure speculation”, but that has not stopped suggestions that the club are putting together contingency plans from gathering pace.
Guardiola, who has won six Premier League titles since his appointment in 2016, returned to Barcelona on Thursday to give a speech in support of Palestine children and missed his Friday media duties before the trip to Tottenham.
Pep Guardiola. Photo: Mike Egerton/PA
Pep Guardiola. Photo: Mike Egerton/PA
City announced in November 2024 that Guardiola had signed a new two-year contract extension until the summer of 2027.
Enzo Maresca, who worked at City as Guardiola’s assistant, informed Chelsea that he had spoken to representatives of City and Juventus before being sacked by the Stamford Bridge club last month.
It is expected that Maresca, who is now out of work, would be on a shortlist to replace Guardiola but the Italian is unlikely to get a clear run at the job if it comes up.
Alonso, who was sacked by Real Madrid in January, is also thought to be a coach City will carefully consider despite his association to rivals Liverpool.
Liverpool will almost certainly move for Alonso, who played for the club for five years, if they are forced into a managerial change with Arne Slot under pressure to secure Champions League qualification and go far in this season’s competition.
City this month stole ahead of Liverpool for defender Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo and doing so for Alonso would be another bitter pill for their fans to swallow.
But that scenario remains some way off, with currently no guarantee that Guardiola will leave his post or that City will settle on Alonso as his preferred successor.
City are expected to draw up a shortlist of at least three possible successors to Guardiola with one of the Spaniard’s former players, Cesc Fabregas, gaining admirers in England and across Europe for his work at Como who are sixth in Italy’s Serie A table.
Fabregas, who became Como’s permanent head coach in July 2024, is only expected to leave the Italian clubs for one of the biggest jobs in the Premier League or Europe.
Sources who work closely with Bayern Munich do not expect Vincent Kompany to leave the German club if the City post becomes available at the end of the season. Kompany, the former City captain, extended his Bayern contract to 2029 in October last year and is heavily involved in the club’s summer transfer plans.
Former Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is thought to have previously been admired in City circles, but failure to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League have placed doubts over his Marseille future.
Director of football Hugo Viana will be the man primarily tasked with identifying Guardiola’s successor when the time comes, although Guardiola himself could be asked for his own recommendation.
Viana has a close long-standing relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes, whose company counts Maresca among its many clients.
One source revealed that the manner of Sunday’s draw with City offered a strong hint over Guardiola’s future by saying: “Tottenham were there for the taking, but City weren’t ruthless. They let them off the hook. Some of the players look like they think Pep is leaving at the end of the season and, as a result, they are going through the motions.”
Another source questioned the desire of the City players, adding: “It just doesn’t look as though it means as much to them as Arsenal. Most of them have won all those trophies and if they win the title, then great. But if they don’t, does it mean as much? [Erling] Haaland was laughing with Tottenham players near the end of the game, when City needed a goal.”
City’s failure to hold on to their two goal-lead against Spurs certainly upset midfielder Rodri, who claimed referees “have to be neutral” as he hit out at the decision to allow Dominic Solanke’s first goal.
Solanke appeared to kick the back of Marc Guehi’s leg, but the goal was given following a VAR check. It was the latest in a list of decisions City have been unhappy with and Rodri said: “I know we won too much and the people don’t want us to win, but the referee has to be neutral. For me it’s not fair.
“It’s not fair, because we work so hard and the situations now to make these decisions and we have to move on but when everything is finished you are so frustrated because the foul is so clear. He kicked the leg and with the push of the action on the ball, the ball went in. We have to pay attention to these little things, otherwise it is going to be difficult for everyone because the League is like this - it’s about small details and everything counts.”
Rodri added: “I never speak about referees, I respect their job massively, but they have to pay attention to these things. He’s kicked the leg, it’s so clear. He anticipated Marc and it’s a clear foul. But it’s not (just) today, it’s two or three games in a row and I honestly don’t know why.”