Manchester City Season Preview 2025/26: Why Pep Guardiola will take City back to the top
Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players
(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
The Manchester City Season Preview 2025/26 is here: are the Sky Blues heading back to the summit once more?
FourFourTwo’s Manchester City Season PreviewFFT’s viewThe PlanReturn to dominance. Manchester City were widely tipped last term to extend their unprecedented four consecutive top-flight English titles to an equally unprecedented five ā then they finished 3rd, some 13 points behind the champions.
LAST SEASON
PREMIER LEAGUE 3rd
FA CUP Runners-up
LEAGUE CUP Fourth Round
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Play-off Round
TOP SCORER (ALL COMPS) Erling Haaland (31)
Early exits in the League Cup and Champions League, then a shock FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, left Pep Guardiola without major silverware for the first time since 2016/17, his first season in England. So, in his 10th season, his sole aim is to lead a heavily revamped squad back to glory. It will require a vast improvement on nine league defeats in 2024-25 ā more than theyād had in the two previous campaigns put together.
The Coach
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (Image credit: Getty Images)With his contract soon about to expire and rumours that he may be looking to call it a day in England, Pep Guardiola ā ranked at no.5 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest managers ever ā then lost four games on the spin last autumn. Thankfully, City fans were rejoicing when it was quickly confirmed he had extended his deal until 2027.
Key Player
Erling Haaland in action against Bournemouth (Image credit: Getty Images)Erling Haaland hit 31 goals in all competitions last season without anyone really noticing. Even when not at his best, the Norwegian guarantees goals at the highest level, and with 85 in three Premier League seasons, aged 25 and signed up to 2034, heāll have Alan Shearer worried.
Lesson From Last YearRodri is irreplaceable. The Spanish midfielderās importance to Pepās machine was already well known ā he last featured in a league defeat in February 2023, against Spurs ā but his true worth was put under a spotlight last term.
FFT’S SEASON PREVIEW
(Image credit: Future)This preview originally appeared in FourFourTwo’s Season Preview issue which went on sale in July, available here with free delivery
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner played just 68 minutes of Premier League football before rupturing an ACL against Arsenal, and City laboured in his absence, suffering a run of nine defeats in 12 games in all competitions. His long-awaited return in May ā a win, obviously, against Bournemouth ā was cause for celebration, although another injury in the profligate defeat by Al Hilal at the Club World Cup raised further doubts about the Ballon dāOr holderās long-term durability.
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The MoodForget 2024/25 ā further spending, on the back of Januaryās Ā£180m trolley dash, has brought optimism for a new era. Joining Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and Vitor Reis are new(er) boys Tijjani Reijnders and Rayans Cherki and Ait-Nouri. Their brief: bring the good times back to the blue half of Manchester. Who needs Kevin De Bruyne anyway?
One To Watch
Is now the time for Fodentada? (Image credit: Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)After winning the triple crown of Player of the Year awards (PFA, FWA, Premier League) in 2023/24, Phil Foden blamed injuries and burnout for last yearās āfrustratingā follow-up. He has a point to prove ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Most Likely Toā¦Hibernate until spring.
Cityās late gallop is as traditional as Michael Buble at Christmas. Even without a title tilt to focus on, they finished with 10 games unbeaten to secure Champions League qualification.
Least Likely Toā¦See you in court. The hearing into alleged breaches of the Premier League financial rules finished at the end of 2024, but at the time of writing, there was still no verdict.
FFT Verdict2ND Club World Cup hangovers, Rodriās fitness and Pepās use of new toy Cherki are among the unknowns.
The Number Cruncher
The Number Cruncher (Image credit: Future)Fan ViewCan City really wrestle the title back from free-spending Liverpool? We asked Lloyd Scragg for a view from the standsā¦
Last season was our worst under Pep, for sure.
This season will be different because after 24 months of inaction, we have finally hit the refresh button on the squad. We should be a lot better out of possession now weāve dramatically lowered the squadās average age.
Look out for Oscar Bobb. Heās 22 now, but 2024/25 should have been his breakthrough season; we hope he has better luck with injuries this year.
Our most underrated player is Nathan Ake.
The active player Iād love to have back is Aymeric Laporte ā very underrated and still a top player.
Nathan Ake is underrated by the masses (Image credit: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Iām least looking forward to playing Spurs. Our bogey team just hired Thomas Frank, arguably Cityās #1 bogey manager.
The thing my club really gets right is fan protests. My personal highlight of last season was seeing City fans collectively assemble and organise a few very well-attended protests ā which has already resulted in some important reforms.
The one change Iād make would be to scrap the new 10-game āpersonal attendanceā rule for all season ticket holders. Itās a draconian and counterintuitive rule that wholly ignores the realities of modern life and football-scheduling!
The opposition player Iād love here is Tino Livramento of Newcastle.
A social media account to follow is @theskybluetimes, for outstanding written analysis on City.
Weāll finish 1st, I think.
This preview originally appeared in FourFourTwo’s Season Preview issue which went on sale in July, available here with free delivery
Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, heās been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany’s national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngsterās move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keeganās playing career.
