Tijjani Reijnders has provided the clearest account yet of why Pep Guardiola chose to step away from Manchester City after the 2025–26 campaign. Reijnders said Guardiola told the squad he was “so tired” after years of relentless pursuit of excellence and that, in his view, the manager had reached a point where he did not have the energy for the routine task of informing players they would not play.

Reijnders called Guardiola a “very intense manager and a football genius,” admitting he felt it a “shame “to have only been able to work under the storied coach for a single season. He added: “It is his choice,” the former AC Milan midfielder reflected. “He no longer has the energy to disappoint guys when they are not in the squad or are not playing, he told us. After 10 years, it is enough. And I understand that. By ‘intense coach,’ I mean in a very positive light, by the way. He tries to get the absolute best out of a group of players.”

Guardiola will take on a short-term ambassador and adviser role with the City Football Group, and Reijnders suggested the manager may seek a different challenge if he returns to coaching, with international football an option. Guardiola has spoken of a long-standing ambition to one day manage at a World Cup and a continental championship, a dream he articulated as far back as 2018. The 55-year-old has previously dismissed the possibility of becoming Spain manager despite having represented his national team 47 times between 1992 and 2001. He has not given a formal reason for that position, but remains a proud Catalan who in recent years has supported the region’s separatist movement. Potential national teams mentioned in connection with his future include the United States, England, Italy, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

For Reijnders, a player who impressed at the FIFA Club World Cup and began his debut Premier League season as a starter, the campaign offered mixed returns. He scored four of his five Premier League goals in one month but then fell out of favour after February. He started only two of City’s final 15 Premier League matches, one after the title had already been conceded to Arsenal, and was unused in nine of those matches as Guardiola preferred Rodri and Bernardo Silva in central midfield, with Nico González also ahead in the pecking order.

Hans-Joachim Watzke, the long-serving Borussia Dortmund president who recruited Erling Haaland, has outlined a measured timeline for the Manchester City striker’s potential move to Real Madrid.

Watzke told Spanish publication AS that Haaland’s admiration for Real is clear but that an immediate transfer is unlikely. “I know very well what he thinks, and I can say that he certainly admires Real Madrid and would like to play for them in the future, but next season he will continue playing for Manchester City. Without a doubt,” he said. Watzke added: “He loves Real Madrid and he doesn’t hide it. I think he’ll be playing there in two or three years, but not that soon. He hasn’t committed to anyone, as his father has said.”

The comments come amid an overheated backdrop at Real Madrid, where presidential hopeful Enrique Riquelme named Haaland as a target if he were to replace Florentino Pérez. That pledge was emphatically rejected by the player’s representatives and by Manchester City, which denied any “contractual clause to enable it” and said it was even “considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”

Haaland’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, told La Sexta in March: “Everything is going very well for him and we really have nothing to discuss about a transfer when everything is so good at City.” Pimenta has previously said she has never negotiated a player contract without a release clause, but City’s statement and her own admission to ESPN last month that the club gives her “no leverage” have cast doubt on that claim.

With a contract that extends for years at Manchester City, any transfer would require an extraordinary offer or the player pushing for a move. Watzke’s forecast — a switch within two to three years rather than immediately — reflects those practical constraints.

Elsewhere, the Real Madrid vote on June 7 will determine the club’s leadership, a result that could affect future managerial plans. José Mourinho is reported as the candidate to take a three-year managerial deal only if Pérez is re-elected, while Riquelme has named Jürgen Klopp as his choice. Watzke regards Klopp joining Real Madrid this summer as a non-starter.

Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme has placed Rodri at the centre of his summer pledges, intensifying speculation about the Manchester City midfielder ahead of the June 7 election. Hitting the campaign trail, Riquelme told Tiempo de Juego: “Rodri is a great player, I’ve said it countless times these past few days when I’ve been asked, and I have no reason to hide it; if I were president of Real Madrid , a player like Rodri… well , he would play for Real Madrid.

“Then we wouldn’t have to go through the painful embarrassment of not having any Real Madrid players on the Spanish national team. I would like Rodri to play for Real Madrid.”

Florentino Pérez, the incumbent, has not commented specifically on the prospect of signing Rodri. The club is widely expected to strengthen its midfield this summer after the departures of Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić. Pérez has also presented a high-profile campaign poster listing his past signings, leaving a space that reads “to be continued.”

Rodri himself has not closed the door on a move. Speaking during a media day as the national team prepares for the World Cup, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner said he will assess his club future after the tournament. “It’s part of football,” he told reporters when asked about the Real Madrid links.

“I’m focused on being a leader for the national team. That’s my path. I understand the noise, but I’m not going to dedicate my time to that. We’ll see after the World Cup.”

Those remarks leave Madrid with a clear opening. There will be particular urgency at the club to find an elite midfield controller after recent exits, and Rodri’s profile has repeatedly been linked to the Bernabéu. The absence of any Real Madrid players in Spain’s World Cup squad for the first time has added to the debate about the club’s midfield needs.

Rodri’s previous comments keep the connection alive. Back in 2024 he told Cadena SER: “When Real Madrid call you, the best club in history, the most successful, everything that means… Obviously, it’s an honour and you always have to pay attention, of course.” With Riquelme, a 37-year-old considered the underdog against Pérez, publicly campaigning for a signing of Rodri’s type, Madrid’s decision makers will have to weigh the option this summer regardless of the election outcome.