The atmosphere is not in good shape on the side of the Etihad Stadium. While Manchester City is preparing for a crucial season, the leaders display a growing concern about the psychological state of Pep Guardiola. Citizens officials fear that a delicate personal situation will come to parasitize the club's sporting ambitions. A legitimate concern a few days before the recovery.
Guardiola's personal situation concerns leaders
The source of the hassles is now known: Guardiola is going through a difficult period with his imminent divorce from Cristina Serra. After eleven years of marriage and an amicable separation last January, relations between the ex-spouses deteriorated. From “cordial”, they have simply become “polished” according to the British press, with a procedure which now accelerates.
This conjugal break comes in an already tense sporting context. City's past season had been marked by a series of catastrophic results, culminating with their worst ranking in the Premier League since 2015-16. Coincidence or not, this period coincided with the first signs of cracks in the Guardiola couple, and who have known each other since 1994.
Divorce, pressure, isolation: Guardiola between two storms
City fears an impact on performance
The three children of the couple add an additional emotional dimension to this separation. At 54, Guardiola must manage this personal transition while preparing a season where City cannot afford the slightest misstep. The leaders openly fear that these extra-sport concerns will come to “darken” the start of the championship.
This concern takes on a particular resonance when you know that Guardiola has already announced his intention to leave City in 2027, even evoking a fifteen year break away from football. For a club accustomed to excellence, seeing his master to think weakened by his personal demons represents a risk that no one dares to quantify. The imminence of the start of the season with the opposition to come against the Wolves does not help the case.
