Sports
As difficulties mount at Man City, could this season be Guardiola’s last?
Pep Guardiola sought a challenge at every stop of his managerial career. Whether it was swapping Barcelona B for Barcelona after just one season, moving to Bayern Munich or taking on the Premier League with Manchester City, he has usually come out on top.
On his first day at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, he admitted that, despite trophies in Spain and Germany, the question on everyone’s lips ahead of his arrival in England was: “How good is Pep?” He has already answered it once with 18 trophies in nine years in Manchester.
But amid a swirl of change at City and at the center of English soccer, he’s facing the prospect of having to answer it all over again. In a career full of challenges, this is perhaps one of the biggest yet.
Had things played out differently, Guardiola might already be enjoying his retirement on a beach in the Maldives or a golf course in Portugal. He chose to stay at City, in part, because the beginning of this past season — only the second to end without a trophy during his spell at the Etihad — was so difficult and he didn’t want to leave the club in a mess. It appears he also realized the club would find it far easier to hand over to a new manager in a summer that didn’t include the added complication of a Club World Cup.
Having decided to stay and sign a contract extension until 2027, he has taken on the task of trying to build another title-winning team. It’s just that the landscape now is very different.
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Of the squad he picked for the Champions League final against Inter Milan in Istanbul just two years ago, 15 players — including Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gündogan — have either left or been moved out to the fringes.
It’s not just the personnel who have changed. At the same time as dealing with huge squad turnover, Guardiola is also trying to adapt to what he views as a shift in the balance of the Premier League.
At one point this past season when discussing the success of teams like Newcastle, Bournemouth and Brighton, he said that “modern football is not positional, you have to ride the rhythm.” It was quite the admission from a coach who has built an empire on a strict framework of positions and movements.
After City’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in February, he said his “tactics don’t work like they used to.” Earlier this season he insisted he would “never ever change his beliefs” and still likes his team to make “a thousand, million passes.”
It seems, though, he has reached an acceptance that he has to change with the times.
This season, he’s trying to marry his own desire for control with more high pressing and quicker, more direct attacks to mirror what’s happening elsewhere in the league. It’s one of the reasons he picked Pep Lijnders as his assistant after the Dutchman played such a key role in developing Jürgen Klopp’s “heavy metal” style at Liverpool.
It’s a nice idea, trying to merge elements of two of the most successful teams in the modern Premier League era, but it has come with some teething problems.
After starting with an eye-catching 4-0 win at Wolves to open the 2025-26 season, City lost their next two games. In defeats to Tottenham and Brighton, they conceded almost identical goals when fast breaks exploited gaping holes at the back — gaps made more pronounced by the high defensive line favored by Lijnders.
It’s something Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim will have no doubt noticed ahead of the Manchester derby at the Etihad on Sunday. City will kick off against United one point and four places below their neighbors in the table. They’re already six points behind champions Liverpool, who can now call on new £125 million striker Alexander Isak after the international break.
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No team since Manchester United in 1992-93 has lost two of their first three games and still gone on to win the league. Even at this early stage, there’s a lot of ground to make up if Guardiola wants to regain the trophy he lifted six times in seven years between 2017 and 2024.
But if it’s not going to be this season for City and Guardiola, then when? Guardiola has a contract for the next two years, but staff have given up trying to predict when he might call it quits.
There’s a feeling in some corners of the City Football Academy that this could yet be his last season. There are others who feel that, even though he has admitted he’s approaching the end, the 54-year-old could still be convinced to sign another new contract. That would depend very much on his own energy levels and whether the working relationship with director of football Hugo Viana — who has taken over from Guardiola’s great friend Txiki Begiristain — is running smoothly.
Either way, City bosses decided a long time ago that Guardiola has earned the right to decide how and when he goes. He has accepted that this past season was so bad in terms of City’s specific goals that he might have been axed by any other top club.
At the end of his 26 years at United, Sir Alex Ferguson bowed out as a champion after winning the title in 2013. Guardiola’s achievements deserve the same finale.
To give himself the perfect send-off he’ll need to piece together another great team capable of thriving in a different age of the Premier League. It’s another big challenge to tick off the list.
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Aroldis Chapman was a major piece of the New York Yankees’ resurgence in the late-2010s as he was the man the team called out of the bullpen to close out games.
But Chapman’s failure to close out the Houston Astros in the 2019 American League Championship Series will forever be seared into the minds of Yankees fans. It would be unlikely that they would want him back in the bullpen regardless of his comments on Monday.
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New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (54) throws against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning in game four of the 2017 ALCS playoff baseball series at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 17, 2017. (Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports)
The two-time World Series champion told the “Swing Completo” podcast in Spanish that he would “retire on the spot” if he was traded back to the Yankees.
“No way. Not even dead,” he said, via the New York Post. “If I were told that I was being traded to New York, I’d pack my things and go home. I’ll retire right on the spot if that happens. I’m not crazy. Never again.”
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Boston Red Sox pitcher Aroldis Chapman (44) relief pitcher throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the New York Yankees during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 30, 2025. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
Chapman explained he felt “a lot of disrespect” while playing in the Bronx. He said he got along with the players and manager Aaron Boone but had an issue with how the “bosses” conducted business.
“I got along well with all the players, never had a problem with anybody, even the manager. We’re friends and we talk and everything,” he said. “The bosses are the ones who make those decisions.”
He pitched for the Yankees from 2017 to 2022.
Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (44) pitches against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at Fenway Park on Sept 14, 2025. (Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images)
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Chapman won a World Series with the Texas Rangers in 2023. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2025. He had a 1.17 ERA with 85 strikeouts.
He will turn 38 before the 2026 season begins.
Former ICC match referee Chris Broad has revealed that he was once instructed to favour India by showing leniency on a slow-over rate penalty.
Broad, who oversaw 622 men’s international matches across formats, disclosed in an interview with The Telegraph, describing it as a startling example of India’s influence in cricket.
The former England cricketer did not specifically mention the match, in which India were around four overs behind schedule and were on the verge of being penalised, but he received a phone call and was instructed to show leniency with the team.
“India were three, four overs down at the end of a game, so it constituted a fine. I got a phone call saying, ‘Be lenient, find some time because it’s India’. And it’s like, right, OK. So we had to find some time, bring it down below the threshold,” Broad stated.
“The very next game, the same thing happened. He [Sourav Ganguly] didn’t listen to any of the hurry-ups and so I phoned and said, ‘What do you want me to do now?’ and I was told ‘just do him’,” he added.
Broad, who served as the ICC match referee until February 2024, further shared that he was ‘very happy to carry on’, but his contract was not renewed by the apex body.
“I was very happy to carry on,” Broad remarked. “But for 20 years, I dodged a lot of bullets, both politically and physically. I look back and I think, ‘you know, 20 years is quite a long time to be doing that job’,” Broad continued.
The former referee then went on to claim that the management became ‘a lot weaker’ against India’s financial influence after the departure of former South Africa cricketer Vince van der Bijl as the ICC umpires manager.
“I think we were supported by Vince van der Bijl (ICC umpires manager) while he was in position because he came from a cricketing background, but once he left, the management became a lot weaker. India got all the money and has now taken over the ICC, so in many ways,” he claimed.
“I’m pleased I’m not around because it’s a much more political position now than it ever has been,” Broad concluded.
Juventus are looking at a move for Chelsea defender Malo Gusto, while Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has been linked with Manchester United, but the club’s minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has shot that down. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.
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TRENDING RUMORS
– Juventus are keeping tabs on Chelsea right back Malo Gusto, according to Calciomercato. The France international is viewed by Juve as a potential alternative to Atlético Madrid‘s Nahuel Molina, whom the club came close to signing back in the summer. With captain Reece James returning to form and fitness in the right back position, the Blues may sanction Gusto’s exit if a suitable offer arrives.
– Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has blocked a shock move for Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, reports The Daily Mirror. Lewandowski, 37, is expected to become a free agent next summer, and won’t be short of potential suitors if he does. However, United won’t be among them as things stand, with Ratcliffe keen to “not repeat the mistakes of the past” by signing a player toward the end of his career. The Poland international has scored 73 league goals for Barcelona since joining in 2022 on a free transfer from Bayern Munich.
– Barcelona and Arsenal are set to battle to sign 15-year-old Montpellier striker Lacine Megnan-Pave, according to L’Equipe. Megnan-Pave has caught the eye with his performances for Montpellier’s U19 side, where he has scored twice in five games, and the 6-foot left-footed forward could have a choice to make in the near future. Though Barcelona and their La Masia academy are tipped to get the deal over the line first.
– Bayern Munich are among the clubs considering a bid to sign FC Cologne winger Said El Mala in January, Sky Germany has revealed. El Mala, 19, is under contract at the club until June 2030, so his transfer is valued above the €40 million mark following an electric start to the Bundesliga season. As things stand, Cologne are not willing to entertain January offers that would see the 19-year-old return to the club on loan for the remainder of the season.
– Tottenham Hotspur may look to replace striker Dominic Solanke in the January transfer window, Football Insider reports. The England international hasn’t impressed new Spurs boss Thomas Frank, although his ongoing fitness issues have not helped matters. The club hope to bring in a new forward when the transfer window reopens, with former Brentford star Ivan Toney among those linked in recent weeks.
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OTHER RUMORS
– Santos are set to evaluate the technical conditions of extending Neymar‘s contract at the club, according to club president Marcelo Teixeira. (O Globo)
– Bukayo Saka is edging closer to agreeing to a record-breaking new contract with Arsenal. He is set to become the club’s highest-ever paid player, with a salary of over £300,000. (Football Insider)
– Barcelona are yet to decide whether they’ll sanction a loan move for winger Roony Bardghji. Stuttgart were previously in advanced talks to sign the 19-year-old and could be among his suitors if Barca place him on the loan list. (Sky Germany)
– Tottenham are tracking FC Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, 21, but Arsenal, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest are also interested. (Caught Offside)
– Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, 33, looks set to leave for free at the end of the season as the club won’t extend his contract. (Football Insider)
– Roma are interested if Manchester United are willing to sanction a loan deal for forward Joshua Zirkzee. (TBR)
– Tottenham and Manchester United both made £50 million bids to sign Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo in the summer, which were rejected. (Telegraph)
– Out-of-favor Brentford midfielder Fábio Carvalho could return to the Bundesliga in January, and a loan move is being explored. (Sky Germany)
– West Ham United are keen on signing Barcelona wonderkid Pedro “Dro” Fernández in January. (Alan Nixon)
– Aston Villa want to sign winger Morgan Rogers, 23, to a new contract quickly. (Football Insider)
– A Juventus scout was present at Saturday’s match between Udinese and Lecce to monitor midfielder Arthur Atta. The 22-year-old has impressed so far in Serie A this season, with three goal involvements in eight matches to date. (Nicolo Schira)
– AC Milan are planning on signing a center back and a striker in the winter transfer window. (Nicolo Schira)
– Wolverhampton Wanderers insist manager Vítor Pereira is “not under immediate threat” of being sacked, despite the club’s poor start. (TalkSPORT)
– Peterborough United have held talks with former Swansea City manager Luke Williams over the vacant manager’s post. (Sky Sports News)
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