Pep Guardiola quit claim as Man City told 'he won't be there' unless one condition met

Manchester City have had an underwhelming start to the season, and Wayne Rooney isn't sure if Pep Guardiola will still be in the charge at the Etihad next season

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have lost their last two Premier League games(Image: 2025 James Gill - Danehouse)

Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney believes Pep Guardiola might not even be the Manchester City manager next season, unless the Citizens surprise many and win the Premier League title.

However, the former Derby County and Plymouth Argyle boss is also of the opinion Guardiola may walk away from City even if they do regain their crown from Liverpool this season. Guardiola, 54, agreed a deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until 2027 in November 2024. He has since spoken about extending his City deal even further.

City opened the new season with a thumping 4-0 win over Wolves. However, a 2-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur and damaging 2-1 loss at Brighton have followed. City finished third last term, and coupled with their slow start to the season, Rooney is now unconvinced about the Spaniard staying in the blue half of Manchester for much longer.

Guardiola has won six Premier League titles at City but his side are in the throes of a transitional period having lost stalwarts such as Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker.

"When we went through it [transition] with Sir Alex Ferguson, there's no question that he's going to be the manager in three or four years time, so that makes it easier for a club in transition," the United icon said on The Wayne Rooney Show.

"I feel, if Man City don't win the league this year, I don't think Pep will be there, so, it might be a team in transition, looking for a new manager and new players.

Manchester City have lost two of their opening three games(Image: DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)

"Pep might not even be there if they do win the league so you don't know. I don't think it's one you can look at and say, 'Right, I'm going to take the next three years to rebuild a title-winning team.' There's still uncertainty of whether the manager will still be there."

Asked if he believes City have brought in too many new players too quickly, Rooney concurred. He is also concerned that City have shed their leaders at the club and replaced them with a host of inexperienced players.

Guardiola has brought in goalkeeper James Trafford, winger Rayan Cherki, left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and midfielder Tijjani Reijnders this summer. Gianluigi Donnarumma is also still poised to complete a move to City from PSG at the very end of deadline day.

"I think they've had to [sign new players] with players leaving. Man City have lost some pretty big characters from that dressing room when you look at it," Rooney added.

Wayne Rooney isn't sure if Guardiola will still be City's manager next season(Image: BBC)

"You think Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, and now it looks like Ederson is going to leave, so they've lost some big players.

"If they had a leadership group last season, probably all those players would be in that [group of players who have left]. They've lost a lot of leadership out of the team so I think that's difficult to replace, that know-how."

After the Brighton defeat, Guardiola was in a reflective mood. "We were excellent for one hour," he told BBC Sport. "After the goal we forgot to play. We were thinking of the consequences."

However, he refused to be drawn on any talk of an early crisis at City, with only three matches played. "It's one game," he added. "The season has just started. There is a long, long season ahead of us. We will see what happens."