Next Man City Manager Odds
Talk of Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City has been circulating for years, but lately the rumours have started to feel more like facts. Guardiola’s contract runs until the summer of 2027, yet it already feels as though both sides have grown tired of each other. Manchester City no longer dominate the Premier League, and the Champions League slap from Real Madrid, a 0:3 defeat delivered by a relatively inexperienced coach who had only recently worked in the academy setup, only strengthens the argument. Pep needs a new challenge, while the club may also be ready for a fresh start.
Next Manchester City manager
Who do the bookmakers believe has the best chance of arriving at the Etihad next year, and why will it not be Xabi Alonso? Here is the full picture.
Enzo Maresca: bold or bald decision?
He is the clear market leader and a former assistant to Pep in the 2022/23 season. There is even an extra point in his favour, namely the visual resemblance between the two managers.
Maresca has been mentioned as Guardiola’s heir for quite some time, and his dismissal from Chelsea only added more fuel to the speculation among fans and bookmakers.
Enzo Maresca's record as head coach
|
Team |
Games |
Win rate, % |
|
Parma |
14 |
28,57 |
|
Leicester City |
53 |
67,92 |
|
Chelsea |
92 |
59,78 |
Like Mikel Arteta, Maresca is a worthy student of Pep, though not a copy of him. His Leicester City and Chelsea sides have at times produced a similarly dynamic brand of football built around possession, pressure through transitions and attacks in the half spaces.
Maresca has also inherited Pep’s love of experiments, and they do not always come off. At Leicester City, almost every player operated in at least three positions, while in London, Enzo tried to turn Moises Caicedo into a left wing back. That failed badly, but the way he moved Reece James into midfield, where he still plays now, came straight out of Guardiola’s playbook.
Maresca’s biggest achievement is not only one successful Championship campaign, but also respectable work with a more than chaotic Chelsea side, including victory in the first Club World Cup. Before being sacked, the club were sitting fourth in the Premier League and had also thrashed Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. Whether Chelsea will finish in the Champions League places under Rossenior remains a major question.
Luis Enrique: the Catalan route
The next successful Barcelona manager after Pep was Luis Enrique, so why not try a similar formula in England? Nasser Al-Khelaifi is a big admirer of Guardiola, while Luis Enrique is said to have friendly ties with people at Manchester City. That raises the possibility of a monumental managerial swap this summer.
Friendship, however, has not translated into anything more substantial. Relations between the clubs are far from warm, and the only major transfer between Europe’s state-backed giants remains Gianluigi Donnarumma’s move in the summer of 2025.
Luis Enrique's record as head coach
|
Team |
Games |
Win rate, % |
|
AS Roma |
42 |
40,4 |
|
Celta Vigo |
40 |
37,5 |
|
Barcelona |
181 |
76,2 |
|
Spain national team |
44 |
68,5 |
|
Paris Saint-Germain |
159* |
67,3* |
*As of 13 March 2026
Luis Enrique is one of the finest managers of the modern era, a coach who has proven himself at both club and international level, but a move to England this summer does not look like the smartest option. Every top club is in a state of uncertainty, and the market is driven by impulsive spending on wildly inflated deals.
Transfers would become the Spaniard’s biggest headache if he arrived in Manchester. Guardiola’s current squad is not especially well suited to Enrique’s more centralised approach, where zonal play comes first and there is little room for making the most of the individual strengths of players such as Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku. There would also be the added complication of having to move Donnarumma on again, given that he left Paris Saint-Germain a year ago because he did not fit Luis Enrique’s plans.
Besides, Enrique looks perfectly comfortable in Paris, where he has complete control over the squad and still retains hope of winning a second straight Champions League title.
Xabi Alonso: the biggest name in the betting
Since leaving Real Madrid, Alonso has been linked with every major club in Europe. His failure at the Santiago Bernabeu is still viewed as a setback rather than a pattern, so the Spaniard continues to enjoy plenty of credit in the bank. With such a high-profile name in the market, it is no surprise to see Xabi sitting third in the race.
In terms of quality and variety, the Manchester City squad would broadly suit Alonso. His love of pressing and automated tactical patterns would fit experienced players such as Rodri and Mateo Kovacic, as well as newer faces like Tijjani Reijnders and Omar Marmoush.
Xabi Alonso’s record as head coach
|
Team |
Games |
Win rate, % |
|
Bayer Leverkusen |
140 |
62,86 |
|
Real Madrid |
34 |
70,59 |
There are, however, several major reasons why his chances of landing the job are close to zero. As a Liverpool legend, Alonso is highly unlikely to accept a post in Manchester. Manchester City have had a loosely comparable case before, just think back to Frank Lampard’s half season at the Etihad, but a six month deal for a veteran player and a long term managerial appointment are very different things.
Moreover, the pressure on Arne Slot is growing stronger, and the chances of seeing Xabi at Anfield appear significantly higher.
It is also worth remembering that the Spaniard would have to adapt his game model around stars such as Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo. Alonso’s flexibility as a coach is still open to debate. He did not cope particularly well with a squad full of superstars at Real Madrid. Manchester City, meanwhile, are unlikely to spend the next five years planning to sell their biggest names.
Andoni Iraola: not obvious, but intriguing
The Basque coach is rightly viewed as one of the Premier League’s brightest managerial talents over the past two seasons, and his AFC Bournemouth side have been one of the most interesting teams in the division. The Cherries play brave football all over the pitch, ranking in the Premier League top five for shots per game and top three for interceptions in the attacking third.
Before the dismissals of Maresca and Alonso, Iraola was second in the betting for the Manchester City job.
Andoni Iraola's record as head coach
|
Team |
Games |
Win rate, % |
|
AEK Larnaca |
29 |
41,4 |
|
Mirandes |
49 |
36,7 |
|
Rayo Vallecano |
136 |
39,7 |
|
AFC Bournemouth |
118* |
36,4* |
*As of 13 March 2026
In the 2025/26 season, AFC Bournemouth even spent a month in the top four and at one stage climbed as high as second after a round of fixtures. Iraola has shown he is ready for a step up, but the other side of the coin may be the conservatism of the Manchester City hierarchy.
Despite the trend of appointing young, unconventional, or simply fashionable managers from the new wave, those in charge at Manchester City are looking for an experienced figure with a strong CV and the ability to deliver results immediately.
From a squad fit perspective, Iraola could make it work. He would have quick wingers, technical wing backs, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner operating box to box, and one of the best strikers in the world. His preferred 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 shapes would fit perfectly. The real question is whether Iraola himself would be able to handle so many options and so much quality.
Roberto De Zerbi: a test of the board’s patience
De Zerbi’s talent as a coach is beyond dispute, but his stubborn streak and reputation for conflict remain major red flags for every elite club. Even during his spell at Brighton and Hove Albion, he was seen as one of the leading candidates for a jump to a top six side, yet the Italian chose Olympique de Marseille instead, before leaving after a year and a half.
Roberto De Zerbi's record as head coach
|
Team |
Games |
Win rate, % |
|
Foggia |
91 |
51,6 |
|
Palermo |
13 |
7,6 |
|
Benevento |
29 |
20,6 |
|
Sassuolo |
120 |
35,8 |
|
Shakhtar Donetsk |
30 |
66,6 |
|
Brighton & Hove Albion |
89 |
42,7 |
|
Olympique de Marseille |
69 |
56,5 |
De Zerbi seems unable to decide between his ambition and his fear of failing at the very top level. It is difficult to explain his career choices, and his exits, in any other way. In Italy, he was considered for Juventus. At Shakhtar Donetsk, he was offered to Borussia Dortmund. In England, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur both came forward with concrete proposals.
Every move, however, has been followed by criticism of the hierarchy and some kind of scandal. The peak came with his departure from Olympique de Marseille. The team were second in Ligue 1 and missed out on the Champions League play-offs because of a freak goal involving Anatoliy Trubin and Thibaut Courtois. In the heat of the moment, the Italian resigned, and then a few weeks later blamed the board and the sporting director, who was no longer even at the club at that point, for his exit.
No matter how attractive De Zerbi’s football may be, with its emphasis on pressing and quick attacks through the half-spaces, the Manchester City board are unlikely to appoint a manager with that kind of reputation.
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