WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

05/22 07:12 CDT Guardiola to leave Manchester City after season, bringing close to 10-year trophy-laden spell Guardiola to leave Manchester City after season, bringing close to 10-year trophy-laden spell By JAMES ROBSON and STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writers MANCHESTER, England (AP) --- Pep Guardiola confirmed Friday what Manchester City fans had been fearing. The club's most successful manager is leaving, bringing to a close a trophy-laden, 10-year spell in which he established City as one of major forces in Europe and changed the face of English soccer. Guardiola, who had a further year left on his City contract, will take charge of his final game against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. "Don't ask me the reasons I'm leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it's my time," Guardiola said. "Nothing is eternal, if it was, I would be here. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City." City said Guardiola would take up a role as global ambassador. Enzo Maresca --- the former Chelsea manager who was previously assistant to Guardiola at City --- is the favorite to take on the daunting task of filling Guardiola's shoes after a decade of unprecedented dominance. Since joining City in the summer of 2016, Guardiola led the Abu Dhabi-backed team to six Premier League titles and the Champions League for the first time in 2023. He won 17 major trophies in all, including a domestic double this season of the English League Cup and the FA Cup. He has won 35 major titles across his coaching career including his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. City was far his longest job in management, having never previously stayed more than four years in a role. He set new benchmarks, with City becoming the first team to win four-straight English league titles and the first to amass 100 points in a single season in 2018. The following year City became the first team to win the domestic treble of the league, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season. But his biggest achievement was leading City to the ultimate treble in 2023, winning the league, Champions League and FA Cup --- matching Manchester United's feat from more than 20 years earlier in 1999. He also brought to England a style of soccer --- a possession-based approach that started with playing the ball out from the goalkeeper or defense --- that ended up being mimicked across the country, from kids' teams at grassroots level to rival teams in the Premier League. "The unique approach that he brings to his coaching has allowed him to constantly challenge the accepted truths of our game. It is the reason that in the last 10 years he has not only made Manchester City better --- he has also made football better," City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said. He added that it was the "right answer" for Guardiola to walk away now. While he goes out on another trophy-winning campaign, this was the first time in his career that he has gone two seasons without being crowned league champion. City was also eliminated from the Champions League before the quarterfinal stage in each of the last two years. City said Guardiola's new role would see him give technical advice to clubs in its ownership group. "Pep's legacy is extraordinary and its true impact will be better assessed by Manchester City historians of the future," said chief executive Ferran Sorriano. "If there is something more difficult than winning, it is winning again. It requires incredible persistence, resilience and the humility to start again every year, with the same energy, again and again. This is what Pep did." While Guardiola will go down as one of the greatest managers in Premier League history --- rivaling Alex Ferguson --- he repeatedly had to defend City against allegations of financial breaches, with more than 100 charges still hanging over the club. City was accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 --- a span in which it won three titles and signed some of the world's best players, like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne. One of those titles was won under Guardiola. City has always denied wrongdoing. Guardiola said he "fully convinced" the club was innocent. "We worked. We suffered. We fought. And we did things our own way. Our way," said Guardiola in his farewell message to fans. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer