Pep Guardiola\u2019s exit closes a defining decade at Manchester City and arrives alongside other significant departures, including John Stones and Bernardo Silva. Their exits leave the club at a crossroads and raise questions about a wider squad reshuffle this summer.<\/p>\n
James Trafford is an immediate candidate to seek another move. A City academy graduate, Trafford returned after an impressive spell at Burnley to challenge for the starting role vacated after Ederson. The arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma relegated Trafford to backup duties and restricted him to domestic cup appearances, both of which he won. With ambitions to usurp Jordan Pickford as England\u2019s No. 1, Trafford may need regular minutes elsewhere.<\/p>\n
At the back, Stones\u2019 departure reduces an influential presence, but City are well stocked at centre back. Winter signing Marc Gu\u00e9hi joins R\u00faben Dias, Jo\u0161ko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov, a depth that could make Nathan Ak\u00e9 expendable. Ak\u00e9\u2019s fitness struggles and an expiring contract in 2027 make a summer sale a logical option.<\/p>\n
Manuel Akanji will leave after Inter triggered a loan obligation following a Serie A triumph. Rico Lewis\u2019s future is less certain. Once viewed as central to Guardiola\u2019s plans, the versatile 21-year-old was largely overlooked in 2025\u201326. Lewis signed a five-year extension last summer but managed only three Premier League starts. Maresca will have to decide if Lewis fits long-term plans.<\/p>\n
Midfield stability is also in question. The Ballon d\u2019Or winner is reportedly eager to join Real Madrid and could push for a move, leaving City to confront the challenge of replacing a difficult-to-replace holding midfielder. Mateo Kova\u010di\u0107, who missed almost the entire season through injury, looks an easy sell with his contract running until 2027 and his 33rd birthday approaching next May. Kalvin Phillips will secure a permanent exit, ending a difficult spell and reducing the wage bill.<\/p>\n
City will likely need reinforcements in midfield should several exits materialise; Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez is mentioned as a possible solution.<\/p>\n
Up front, a likely attacking quartet under Maresca would be Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo, J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku and Rayan Cherki. That setup leaves fringe forwards like Omar Marmoush, signed 18 months ago, weighing whether sustained understudy duties justify a move, with links to a summer exit already circulating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guardiola’s exit sparks potential Manchester City departures from goalkeepers to midfield and attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[801,1064,988],"class_list":["post-14006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-city","tag-antoine-semenyo","tag-ballon-dor-2","tag-bernardo-silva"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}