By Jamie Jackson & Jacob Steinberg
After a decade in the dugout, Pep Guardiola has informed Manchester City’s players that he will leave the club after Sunday’s final Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa.
The manager felt obliged to update his squad after news of his departure broke on Monday night, taking him by surprise while he was preparing for Tuesday’s match at Bournemouth.
Guardiola had hoped to keep his decision to leave City private for longer, so as not to provide a distraction.
City need to beat Bournemouth to take the title race to the last day after Arsenal moved five points clear by defeating Burnley.
Guardiola is leaving after 10 years with a season remaining on his contract and City have identified Enzo Maresca as his replacement.
Chelsea are in line for sizeable compensation for Maresca from City after the Italian’s acrimonious departure from Chelsea on New Year’s Day.
City are understood to have agreed a three-year deal in principle with Maresca but there are matters to tie up relating to his exit from Stamford Bridge.
The former Leicester manager is understood to have contractual obligations to Chelsea. He walked away with three and a half years on his deal, with the club option of an extra year.
Sources close to Maresca, who worked as Guardiola’s No 2 at City in the 2022-23 season, have confirmed he did not claim severance and that Chelsea hold his compensation rights. That means the London club are in position to seek compensation. The number on the claim has been kept confidential but is unlikely to be small.
Chelsea have watched events around Guardiola’s future unfold with interest. They view Maresca’s resignation as the reason for their disappointing second half of the season.
Chelsea are likely to miss out on the Champions League and lost the FA Cup final to City last Saturday.
Liam Rosenior struggled after replacing Maresca and was fired last month, leaving Callum McFarlane to take over as interim until the end of the season, with Xabi Alonso to join this summer.
The club’s BlueCo ownership had no desire to make a mid-season change. The situation deteriorated after Maresca said after the win over Everton on 13 December that he had just experienced his worst 48 hours at Chelsea.
It later emerged he had informed Chelsea that he had twice held talks with people associated with City about replacing Guardiola at the end of the season.
Tension had flared between Maresca and the Chelsea hierarchy after last summer’s Club World Cup triumph.
Maresca felt he deserved a new contract and was disappointed when Chelsea did not respond to Levi Colwill sustaining a serious knee injury in pre-season by signing a centre-back.
Chelsea felt no suitable defenders were on the market but the situation was not resolved. Sources said Maresca also tried to use interest from City and Juventus as leverage for a new deal.
The situation reached the point of no return after the 2-2 home draw with Bournemouth on 30 December.
Maresca did not attend his post-match media duties, his absence initially put down to illness.
It later emerged he had told the club he did not want to face the media. Sources said that Maresca met with his bosses in his office after full-time and indicated that he planned to quit.
Maresca intends to add Willy Caballero to his backroom staff at City, the Argentinian having been his assistant at Leicester before following him to Chelsea, where the former goalkeeper occupied the same role.
Caballero, who played for City for three years until May 2017, left Chelsea with Maresca.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Guardiola (r) in a light-hearted moment with Maresca.
