'Oasis are back again': Genius coach Pep Guardiola confirms end with brilliant video to fans

Manchester City have confirmed that Pep Guardiola will leave the club at the end of the season.

The iconic manager's final game in charge will be on Monday (AEST) against Aston Villa. Guardiola will continue as a City Football Group 'global ambassador', giving technical advice to the clubs.

"When I arrived, my first interview was with Noel Gallagher. I walked out thinking, 'OK ... Noel is here? This will be fun'," Guardiola said in an entertaining and touching City video.

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"And what a time we have had together. Don't ask me the reasons I'm leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it's my time. Nothing is eternal; if it was, I would be here. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City.

"This is a city built from work. From graft. You see it in the colour of the bricks. From people who clocked in early, stayed late. The factories. The Pankhursts. The unions. The music. Simply the Industrial Revolution and how this changed the world. And I think I grew to understand that, and my teams did, too.

"We worked. We suffered. We fought. And we did things our own way. Our way. Hard work comes in many forms. Trips to Bournemouth, when we lost the Premier League, and you were there. Trips to Istanbul, when you were there, too.

"Remember, the Manchester Arena attack, when this city showed the world what strength actually looks like? Not anger. Not fear.

"Just love. Community. Togetherness. A city united.

"Remember, losing my mum during COVID and feeling this club carry me through it. The fans, the staff, the people of Manchester, you gave me strength when I needed it most. Cris, my kids, my whole family, you were there as always. Khaldoon, you were there, too.

"Players, don't forget, every single instant, moment, me, my staff, this club, everything. What we have done, we have done it for all of you. And you have been just exceptional. You don't know it yet, but you are leaving a legacy.

"So as my time comes to an end, be happy. Oasis are back again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for trusting me. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for loving me. Tony Walsh said in his unforgettable poem this is the place. I'm sorry, Tony: this is my place.

"Noel … I was right. It has been so f------ fun. Love you all."

Guardiola led City to 20 trophies including six Premier League titles, a Champions League, three FA Cups and five EPL Cups over the past 10 years.

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has been named as a likely replacement.

In overseeing the most successful period in City's history in his decade in charge, Guardiola has spent longer at the club than he did at both Barcelona (2008-12) and Bayern Munich (2013-16).

His biggest achievement at City has been winning the Premier League-Champions League-FA Cup treble in the 2022-23 season, emulating the feat of Manchester United in 1999.

Guardiola's City team has won the Premier League six times and became the only team in the nearly 140-year history of English football to win four top-flight league titles in a row (2021-24), the first team to earn 100 points in a top-flight season (2017-18), and the first team to win the domestic treble of the league, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season (2018-19).

This season, City have won both the League Cup and FA Cup but will finish second behind Arsenal in the Premier League.

That was assured after the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, which left City four points adrift of Arsenal.

Guardiola has also changed the face of English football in general, bringing a possession-based approach that started with playing the ball out from the goalkeeper or defence that ended up being mimicked across the country, from kids' teams at grassroots level to rival teams in the Premier League.

Asked if he thought a stand at City's Etihad Stadium should be named after him, Guardiola said: "The important thing in our lives is when you look back, you can say, 'Wow'. You can look with a big smile and (say), 'That was good'."

"I am pretty sure," he added, "most of the people who lived this time together can feel that."

The final years of Guardiola's time at City has been under something of a cloud, with the club involved in a huge legal case with the Premier League.

City were charged by the league in 2023 with more than 100 financial breaches, including providing misleading information about their sources of income.

The case was heard by an independent commission in 2024 but no verdict has yet been reached. Punishment could be as extreme as expulsion from the top flight.

City have always denied the charges and Guardiola has said he is "fully convinced that we will be innocent".

It has been four-and-a-half months since Maresca left Chelsea following an apparent deterioration in the Italian's relationship with the club's hierarchy during a period when English media were already reporting that he had been lined up as Guardiola's eventual replacement at City.

Maresca played down those reports at the time.

He knows City well, having been their academy coach in the 2020-21 season and Guardiola's assistant in 2022-23 when the team won the treble.

After that, Maresca joined Leicester, who he led to the title in the second-tier Championship.

Maresca's only top-flight experience as a senior coach has been his 18 months with Chelsea from 2024-26, during which the London team won the Club World Cup and Conference League titles and also qualified for the Champions League.