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Pep Guardiola is to leave Manchester City after 10 years.
The Catalan wrapped up his 20th trophy of the decade when he lifted a third FA Cup at Wembley Stadium at the weekend, before reports filtered through last night that Guardiola had just two games remaining as Manchester City boss, starting against Bournemouth tonight.
But while rumours have persisted all season that the 55-year-old – ranked at no.5 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest managers ever – would wrap up his tenure at the Etihad Stadium a year earlier than his contract stated, this has been a decision that feels a long time in the making
Pep Guardiola lost a key figure at Manchester City – and the club haven't been the same since
With Arsenal needing just one win to clinch. the Premier League title, this could well be the first time that Guardiola has gone two whole seasons back-to-back without winning the league – and though some may have figured that the Catalan wouldn't leave Eastlands without winning it, there is precedence for this decision.
Guardiola's Barcelona exit in 2012 came off the back of losing the La Liga title to Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid after all, with that four-year spell providing clues on the future direction that Guardiola would take.
Guardiola's eventual split with Barça came after friction with his superiors, before a three-year spell with Bayern Munich ended in a similar way – paving the way for the former Barcelona captain to reunite with ex-team-mate Txiki Begiristain at City.
Though some wondered if Pep would stay for a similar length of tenure in England, however, the club had been geared for his arrival: former Barça faces Ferran Soriano and Rodolfo Borrell were key to bringing Pep over and revamping the academy, respectively.
Where Guardiola felt that friction at his previous two jobs, City was a club that had been moulded in his image prior to his arrival, with Begiristain his right-hand man, leading recruitment and helping to bring the manager's vision to life.
With Txiki leaving last summer, though, was it always a matter of time before Pep followed?
The Catalan contingent that shaped City's modern dominance from 2012 onwards has all but moved on, with Hugo Viana replacing Begiristain as the penultimate exit – and, as per Fabrizio Romano, Enzo Maresca's imminent arrival perhaps the last one.
It's very clear that we're coming to an era at Eastlands: Bernardo Silva and John Stones are both leaving, too, as two pillars of this City side for the last decade under Guardiola.
And this season has been a huge departure in style for Pep, with his ball-playing goalkeeper sacrificed for Gianluigi Donnarumma, a more obvious double-pivot, more obvious no.10 and a return to do-it-all wingers.
10 years is more than long enough for an era at City… but it began to unravel 12 months before Guardiola's exit.
