{"id":35170,"date":"2026-05-22T17:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35170"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:27:18","slug":"nothing-is-eternal-guardiola-to-end-decade-long-man-city-reign-at-end-of-season-2","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nothing-is-eternal-guardiola-to-end-decade-long-man-city-reign-at-end-of-season-2\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Nothing is eternal&#8217;: Guardiola to end decade-long Man City reign at end of season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Pep Guardiola will leave Manchester City at the end of the season after a decade in charge, the club announced <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\" style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">this Friday<\/span><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">, bringing an end to one of the most successful eras in English soccer and one of the most influential managerial reigns of all time.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The departure of the 55-year-old Catalan coach will close the book on a remarkable chapter that has seen City transform into a footballing juggernaut.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>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 two years.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;Don&#8217;t ask me the reasons I&#8217;m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it&#8217;s my time,&#8221; Guardiola said in a statement.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;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.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;We worked. We suffered. We fought. And we did things our own way. Our way.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>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.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>His final game in charge is Sunday&#8217;s home fixture against Aston Villa before he takes on the role of Global Ambassador in the City Football Group, giving technical advice to clubs in the group.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>City also announced the expanded North Stand at the Etihad Stadium will be named the Guardiola Stand while a statue that will feature on the approach to the stand will be commissioned.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Guardiola had arrived in Manchester with a resume already stuffed with silverware from Barcelona and Bayern Munich, taking over from Manuel Pellegrini in July 2016.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>After inheriting a successful club financed by the Abu Dhabi United Group, Guardiola will walk away having built a footballing empire after overseeing a paradigm shift in Premier League tactics.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>As Guardiola faced the challenge of adapting to England&#8217;s famously fast-paced and physical league, possession became an art form and a defensive tool at City as his teams craved complete control.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The result was not just utter dominance evidenced by record-breaking campaigns like the 100-point 2017-18 season with 106 goals scored but also relentless consistency year after year, including a record four league titles in a row.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Guardiola&#8217;s squads set new standards, forcing other teams to evolve, while City&#8217;s financial muscle combined with shrewd signings such as the much sought-after striker Erling Haaland helped deliver the treble in 2022-23.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>However, the spectre of the 115 charges of alleged breaches of the Premier League&#8217;s financial rules looms large over his tenure at the club.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23341,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-35170","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"City also announced the expanded North Stand at the Etihad Stadium will be named the Guardiola Stand.","published_date":"","news_description":"City also announced the expanded North Stand at the Etihad Stadium will be named the Guardiola Stand.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35171,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35170\/revisions\/35171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}