Man City face impending transfer issue that will impact Pep Guardiola's successor

The confetti has only just been cleared from Deangate after another successful season at Manchester City, with attention now turning to the squad that will defend their latest Premier League crown.

In the last few days, there has been talk of Ederson, Jack Grealish, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Bernardo Silva all leaving the Etihad in the transfer market, as well as a few names potentially arriving to strengthen the squad.

Rodrygo of Real Madrid is the latest name to be linked with City, while Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes and goalkeeper Michael Zetterer have also been named as possible transfers. The main talk over the summer, however, will be over Guardiola's future.

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Guardiola's current deal expires in the summer of 2025, making the next season his last at City unless he signs an extension. He admits he is closer to leaving City than staying another seven years, and reports this week suggested the expectation at the club is that he will not stay beyond next summer.

His assistant Carlos Vicens said this week that the initial priority is for Guardiola to enjoy some much-needed down-time after a long season, and ahead of what could be his last year. “We have to leave Pep alone now and let him recover from the season," he said.

"Then the time will come for him to make his decisions. We’ll see what happens in the future. It’s too early to talk about this.”

Even if Guardiola did commit to another year or two to take his reign past 10 years, City must think ahead for what life could look like without him.

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