Manchester City will not have a ‘red carpet season’, warns Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued some caution over the season he believes his squad are in for this time around.

Guardiola’s men face Wolves in their opening Premier League fixture of the 2025-26 campaign as they look to reclaim the Premier League title from Liverpool and finish top of the league for a fifth time in six seasons.

City finished third in the recent Premier League campaign and have strengthened in the transfer market to launch a challenge on all fronts next term, with the likes of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri adding depth in key areas for the Blues.

Manchester City fans have already been given a peak through the curtain into their new signings in sky blue at the FIFA Club World Cup and Guardiola will be keen to witness how his fresh arrivals integrate in what is undeniably a star-studded squad.

Speaking at Manchester City’s open training event at the City Football Academy this week, Pep Guardiola was asked for his thoughts looking ahead to the new campaign, which kicks-off with a visit to Wolves at Molineux on 16 August.

“Every season is the same but at the same time, it’s just continuing what we’ve done for the past decade. Of course, we want to try and do better than last season, especially with consistency,” Guardiola said.

“You know whenever we start the season, we don’t think how many achievements are we going to get, it’s week by week month by month try to be better and improve our football, because at the beginning it’s always difficult.

“But if we’re in the vibe and spirit we started to create in America at the Club World Cup, hopefully our people will be proud.”

Looking towards the vibe in the City dressing room, Guardiola added: “The positivity is there. I’m pretty sure it’ll be good, but it won’t be a red carpet season, there’ll always be problems, it’s how you overcome those situations.

“I would say this club grew up in the last 15, 20 years and are at the top of every competition we play, let’s continue to do it.”

However, when asked for his views on what would represent a successful campaign for his side, Guardiola said: “For the people, sometimes it’s everything but it depends how we played and how we performed.

“And at the end when the people give good spirit and fight and run and give their best, and after the opponents are always involved, sometimes you can do your best and the opponents are just better.

“It depends on ourselves, this is what we have to try to do. We challenge against ourselves, this is the target for the season.”