Pep Guardiola gets emotional Man City send-off party as Jack Grealish, Oasis star Noel Gallagher and fans bid farewell
THOUSANDS of Man City fans mixed cheers with tears on Monday as they celebrated a cup double — and said a final farewell to boss Pep Guardiola.
City’s Blue Army lined the streets of Manchester to pay tribute to the Spanish tiki-taka legend.
They also said goodbye to departing players Bernardo Silva and John Stones, with Jack Grealish joining in the celebrations despite Pep loaning him out to Everton last summer.
City’s women’s team, who won the Super League, and its FA Youth Cup-winning academy team also joined the procession on separate buses.
There was also a fourth bus highlighting the club’s City in the Community charity.
Fans braving temperatures of 31C (87F) climbed lampposts and traffic lights to see Guardiola, 55, as he headed to the Etihad Stadium one last time.
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City’s men’s squad, who won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season but lost out to Arsenal for the Premier League, partied on an open-top bus.
It eventually arrived at the Co-Op Live arena, next to City’s Etihad stadium for “the After Party”, with Guardiola’s daughters getting amongst the festivities.
Inside, 17,000 fans chanted and cheered as the players arrived on stage before being joined by Pep. Among them was Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, a pal of Pep’s, City-supporting band Blossoms and former team captain Fernandinho.
All three appeared on stage to pay tribute to the outgoing boss, who joined City in 2016 and won 20 trophies. Enzo Maresca is set to replace him.
Confirmation of Guardiola’s departure came on Friday morning, and he has been given one hell of a send-off.
But the dust will now settle and City must start to look forward – while coming to terms with the fact that Guardiola is no longer their manager.
Project Pep has been in place ever since his former colleagues Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begristain arrived from Barcelona in 2012 to put the ground work in place.
It has lasted far longer than anyone dared to imagine – but 14 years on it is finally over.
It won’t be the same without him, of course. How could it be?
17 major trophies and three Community Shields in his decade at the helm is not normal – and that will become clear in the years ahead.
Yet Guardiola insisted during his final couple of press conferences that it is the right time for him to go.
And he is convinced there is a bright future at the club – he would not be leaving if he did not believe that.
Originally he was due to depart 12 months ago but gradually realised he did not want to hand over the reins with a squad on the decline.
He has built up a strong bond with the club over the years and wanted to do right by them.
But having presided over a £430million rebuild since he signed his last deal in November 2024, he now feels his work here is done.
He said: “Everything will be fine. Everything. I’m pretty sure, knowing the people here.
“They are stubborn and know exactly what they are going to do.
“All the managers here have been lucky with Txiki and now Hugo Viana. With Ferran and especially Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
“They know perfectly that the opponents are so tough here and in Europe.
“When the club tells me who it is going to be, I will call him.
“But the club will support him unconditionally, which is the biggest compliment.”
No doubt Pep knows, like everyone else does, that his old No2 Maresca is the man who will replace him.
Yet this is much different to the transition across town at United when David Moyes was drafted in to replace Alex Ferguson.
The club’s hierarchy will remain in place to provide the stability needed in a difficult few months ahead.
And Pep has overseen the overhaul of the squad which has seen several of the treble-winning heroes from 2023 eased out.
In their place has come a much younger group – who are not without their flaws but showed by winning two domestic cups this season that there is real potential.
The likes of Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Abdukodir Khusanov and Antoine Semenyo have all arrived in the last 18 months to breathe new life into the team.
And this summer they will be hunting for a replacement for skipper Bernardo Silva.
The pint-sized Portuguese has made a huge impact over the last nine years so a player capable of filling his boots will not come cheap.
Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea are both on the radar but each valued at over £100m.
For a 16th season in a row they will be in the Champions League next campaign so the money continues to come into the coffers.
Guardiola has been genuinely excited by what he has seen – but fans may have to be patient for silverware after being spoiled during the past few years.
Pep said in his final press conference: “All I would like to say to the fans is enjoy every single step.
“Don’t wait to win the Champions League to be happy, enjoy the process. Any trophy we win, do not take it for granted.”
“But I know the players here, they will do it. I know it.”
There were blue skies over Manchester at the weekend – but of course there is still a cloud hanging over the Etihad.
That will remain the case until they clear their names over the 115 charges of financial wrongdoing levelled at them by the Premier League.
City continue to deny all the allegations and believe they can look ahead to more glory even without their boss.
A worn out Guardiola said on his final matchday: “The past has been really good – but the future will be better without me, I’m pretty sure.”
That may seem hard to believe for City fans this morning – but they are going to find out in the months and years ahead.
SOURCE: THESUN
