Man City confirm exit of five backroom staff after Guardiola era ends
Synopsis
Manchester City's post-Guardiola rebuild is now structural, not just managerial. Five backroom pillars — including a coach who followed Guardiola across Barcelona, Bayern, and City — are all leaving in one summer, stripping the Etihad of the support staff that quietly powered a decade of dominance.
Key Takeaways
Manchester City confirmed the exit of five backroom staff at the end of the 2025/26 season .
Departing members include assistant coach Pep Lijnders , Kolo Toure , fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura , Manel Estiarte , and goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor .
Buenaventura worked alongside Pep Guardiola at FC Barcelona , Bayern Munich , and Manchester City .
Xabi Mancisidor had been at the club since 2013 , making him the longest-serving of the five.
City won both the League Cup and FA Cup in the 2025/26 season despite the managerial transition.
Manchester City have officially confirmed the departure of five members of their first-team backroom staff at the close of the 2025/26 season, drawing a definitive line under the Pep Guardiola era at the Etihad Stadium. The exits follow Guardiola's own departure from the club, marking the end of one of English football's most dominant managerial spells.
The Five Departures
Assistant coach Pep Lijnders, who joined City ahead of the 2025/26 campaign after his stint at Liverpool, departs after just one season. During that single campaign, the club secured both the League Cup and the FA Cup, ensuring domestic silverware despite fierce competition.
Former Ivory Coast international Kolo Toure also leaves. Toure, a Premier League title winner with City during his playing days, had progressed from the club's academy — where he assisted the Under-18 side — to a senior backroom role under Guardiola.
Long-Serving Loyalists Depart
Among the most significant exits is fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura, one of Guardiola's most trusted lieutenants across three clubs. Buenaventura worked alongside the Spaniard at FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, and is widely credited with maintaining the elite physical standards that defined Guardiola-era teams.
Operations and player-support official Manel Estiarte, another member of Guardiola's inner circle throughout his managerial journey across Spain, Germany, and England, will also leave this summer.
Goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor rounds out the departures. Mancisidor arrived at City in 2013 under then-manager Manuel Pellegrini and remained a fixture in the coaching structure throughout Guardiola's tenure — making his exit one of the longest-serving farewells of the group.
What the Club Said
Manchester City issued a formal statement on Tuesday, expressing gratitude to all five departing staff members. 'Everyone at City would like to thank all five members of staff for their hard work and dedication and wish them the very best of luck in the future,' the club said.
Scale of Transition at the Etihad
The simultaneous exit of five senior backroom figures underlines the depth of the rebuild now underway at Manchester City. Under Guardiola, the club became one of the dominant forces in European football, collecting multiple Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League. Notably, this is not merely a coaching reshuffle — it is a near-complete dismantling of the support infrastructure that underpinned a decade of success. New manager Pep Guardiola's successor will inherit a squad in transition and a backroom slate that is effectively blank, raising significant questions about continuity of method and culture at the Etihad.
Point of View
And that system is now being dismantled wholesale. Buenaventura's departure is particularly telling: a fitness architect who followed Guardiola across three clubs and three countries does not leave behind a methodology that can simply be replicated by a new hire. City's incoming manager will not just be replacing a coach; they will be rebuilding an entire performance culture from scratch, at a club whose squad was assembled for a very specific style of play. The real test of City's institutional strength is whether the club's ownership and sporting director can attract a backroom team capable of sustaining, rather than merely inheriting, the standards Guardiola set.
NationPress
10 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Which five backroom staff are leaving Manchester City?
The five departing staff members are assistant coach Pep Lijnders, former Ivory Coast international Kolo Toure, fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura, operations and support official Manel Estiarte, and goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor. All five are leaving at the end of the 2025/26 season following Pep Guardiola's exit.
Why are so many Manchester City backroom staff leaving at once?
The departures are directly linked to Pep Guardiola stepping down as manager. Several of the staff, including Buenaventura and Estiarte, were personal appointments who had followed Guardiola across multiple clubs and are now departing alongside him.
How long had Xabi Mancisidor been at Manchester City?
Xabi Mancisidor joined Manchester City in 2013 under manager Manuel Pellegrini, making him the longest-serving of the five departing staff. He remained goalkeeping coach throughout Guardiola's entire tenure at the club.
What did Manchester City win in the 2025/26 season?
Despite the managerial upheaval, Manchester City won both the League Cup and the FA Cup in the 2025/26 season, securing domestic silverware in what proved to be the final campaign of the Guardiola era.
What does this mean for Manchester City going forward?
The mass departure of Guardiola's backroom team signals a near-complete reset of City's coaching infrastructure. The club's incoming manager will need to build a new support staff, raising questions about continuity of the high-performance culture that drove City's dominance under Guardiola.
