Pep Guardiola has admitted he could have been out of work by the end of last season, crediting Manchester City’s hierarchy for keeping faith through the worst slump of his Etihad reign.
City opened the 2025-26 Premier League season with a rebuilt squad which earned them a resounding 4-0 win away at Wolves on the opening day.
They will be armed with a determination to erase the struggles of last season, which brought a third-place league finish, defeat in the FA Cup final by Crystal Palace, an EFL Cup fourth-round exit and a chastening early fall from Europe.
It was only the second time under Guardiola that City ended a season without a major trophy.
The nadir arrived in a grim winter stretch that saw City hammered 4-0 at home by Tottenham and then spiral into a broader collapse that, at one point, left them with just one win in 13 matches across all competitions.
It was a sequence that shredded confidence, effectively ending their tilt at a record-extending fifth straight Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola claimed that without Man City’s supportive board, he would have been sacked last season
City endured their worst campaign under Guardiola in 2024-25, enduring a run of just one win in 13 games in winter
Against that bruising backdrop, Guardiola did not sugar-coat how close he felt to the brink.
‘I’m really pleased to sit here after a bad season,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘If I didn’t have my chairman and sporting director like I have, I would have been sacked, definitely. Because the results were really, really poor.
‘It’s a new season, we’ve had six or seven signings between the transfer window in December and now. Football is this: win or lose, what’s the next chapter? The next chapter is this season and nobody knows what’s going to happen. We have, I think, the desire to do well.’
That ‘next chapter’ began with a convincing opening-day win at Wolves and continues at the Etihad at lunchtime on Saturday, when they host Tottenham.
Part of the reset has been personnel. City have said goodbye to Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker, with Jack Grealish also leaving on loan. The exit of long-time No 1 Ederson is expected to follow.
In their place, Guardiola has added Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, who both impressed on the opening weekend, while James Trafford has staked an early claim in goal.
There is also the long-awaited return of Rodri, the Ballon d’Or winner who missed most of last season through an ACL injury, and whose absence coincided with City’s worst season under Guardiola.
