MANCHESTER : Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Pep Guardiola repeatedly threatened to leave during his decade-long spell at the club before finally making a decision that both men knew was irreversible.
Speaking to the club’s media channels, Al Mubarak said Guardiola had often spoken about stepping away during difficult periods, but those moments never developed into a genuine departure.
“Inevitably over these last 10 years we’ve had a lot of ups and some downs. And in the downs, he must have quit 100 times,” Al Mubarak said.
Drawing a comparison with the fable “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” Al Mubarak said he learned not to take Guardiola’s declarations at face value, believing the Spaniard usually needed encouragement to continue.
The City chairman said their close relationship often extended beyond football, describing himself as a confidant who helped Guardiola through challenging periods. However, he recognized this season that the manager’s decision was final.
“We reached that, and I knew it,” Al Mubarak said. “I did not fight this at all because I knew this was the time he actually meant it.”
Guardiola departs after a remarkable 10-year reign in which he won 20 trophies, including six Premier League titles and the club’s first UEFA Champions League crown. City also finished runners-up in the league and lifted both the FA Cup and League Cup in his final campaign.
Al Mubarak credited Guardiola with transforming English football through his tactical influence and said the club was well prepared for the transition.
“We are far from peaked,” he said, adding that City would soon announce a successor capable of maintaining the club’s winning culture.
Former City assistant and current Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has been widely tipped as the leading candidate to replace Guardiola.
