Manchester United legend predicts Pep Guardiola could be sacked next summer | OneFootball

Former Manchester United and English forward Wayne Rooney has predicted that Manchester City bosses may show Pep Guardiola the door if he wins to win the 2025 Premier League title.

Guardiola endured the most difficult season of his Manchester City tenure last term, with the Blues finishing in third-place behind Liverpool and Arsenal with a mere 71 point tally to mark their most underwhelming Premier League finish for nearly a decade.

Since taking over as Manchester City from Manuel Pellegrini in 2016, Guardiola has led the club to six Premier League titles, their maiden UEFA Champions League title and a historic treble in 2023. Amidst the previous campaign’s turmoil, the 54-year-old signed a new two-year deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium till the end of the 2026-27 season.

Manchester City have handed Guardiola a new lease of life with a significant revamp of his squad in the recent transfer window, with seven new first-team signings made and several senior stars shown the door after falling short of expectations in recent seasons.

Despite impressing at the FIFA Club World Cup and in pre-season generally, Manchester City’s newlook side – boasting Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and James Trafford – has gotten off to a rocky start to the 2025-26 season.

After a convincing 4-0 beating of Wolves on the opening day of the Premier League season, City have suffered back-to-back defeats to Tottenham and Brighton, with defensive frailties and a lacklustre attack reminding Guardiola and co of their oh-so-familiar troubles of last season.

The going doesn’t get any easier for Manchester City and Guardiola, who are set to face off against Manchester United, Napoli and Arsenal in their upcoming trip of games after the international break.

Gianluigi Donnarumma’s deadline day signing could see the 26-year-old Italy international replace young Trafford in net and Guardiola will know that titles can’t be win but certainly can be lost in the early stages of the season.

City can ill-afford to keep up their miserable run of form, with former Manchester United and England forward Wayne Rooney going so far as admitting that Manchester City bosses may decide to show Guardiola the door if his side fail to win the Premier League title this season.

“When we went through it (a transition) with Sir Alex Ferguson (at Manchester United), there’s no question that he’s going to be the manager in three or four years time, so that makes it easier for a club in transition,” Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show, as quoted by Mirror Sport.

“I feel, if Man City don’t win the league this year (in 2026), I don’t think Pep (Guardiola) will be there – so it might be a team in transition, looking for a new manager and new players.

“Pep (Guardiola) might not even be there if they do win the league so you don’t know. I don’t think it’s one you can look at and say, ‘Right, I’m going to take the next three years to rebuild a title-winning team’. There’s still uncertainty of whether the manager will still be there.”