Replacing Rodri, Moving on From Guardiola, and Helping Haaland: Five Questions for Man City Ahead of 2026-27

Manchester City have entered the post-Pep Guardiola era, but what can they expect this season? We’ve asked five key questions ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

It was an eerie end to the season for Manchester City in 2025-26.

Usually what happens is that City are in a title fight, they put their foot down in the last few months and end up lifting the Premier League trophy in May.

It was following the familiar story beats again last season, until a dramatic twist of an ending with Arsenal claiming the glory instead.

That left a sense of unfamiliar emptiness. A space in the trophy cabinet, an open-top bus that stayed in the depot, and ultimately, an empty seat in the dugout.

Pep Guardiola called it a day after a phenomenally successful decade at the club, saying an emotional goodbye to the fans who worshipped him.

He has been replaced by former assistant Enzo Maresca, and as he looks to get City back on top, we look ahead to their 2026-27 campaign with five key questions.

Can Enzo Fill Pep’s Shoes?

Replacing an iconic manager is not easy; just ask David Moyes and Unai Emery.

It did seem like Maresca to City was just a matter of when, not if. Since he left Chelsea last season, all eyes were on how long it would take Guardiola to step down to allow the Italian to take his spot at the Etihad.

Can he be a success, though?

After a short spell at Parma and some time as one of Guardiola’s assistants in Manchester, Maresca took charge of Leicester City, guiding them to the title in the Championship.

That was enough to convince Chelsea to take a chance on him, and in just 18 months in the role, he won two trophies: the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup.

However, he was dismissed in January 2026 after allegedly falling out with the higher-ups at Stamford Bridge. Maresca left with a 60% win rate, winning 55 of his 92 games in charge in all competitions (D16 L21), though his 49% win rate in the Premier League was only slightly better than his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino (47%), and the same as Frank Lampard’s first spell in charge.

Maresca will certainly need to improve that win rate in the Premier League at City, but he also has a stronger squad to work with. If he’d had Erling Haaland at Chelsea, you’d fancy they would have won a lot more than they did.

Stepping into the spotlight to follow Guardiola will not be easy. Then again, Arne Slot won the Premier League title in his first season after replacing Guardiola’s great rival Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool in 2024-25, so it can be done.

How Much Will Rodri Be Missed?

As if losing one Spanish icon wasn’t enough, it was confirmed this week that Rodri had completed a move to Barcelona.

If you look very closely, the La Liga giants included an Opta pass map in his announcement video (around 23 seconds in).

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner was absolutely sensational at City, so integral to their control, their tight grip on games, and of course, he even scored the winner in the final against Inter as they secured their first UEFA Champions League trophy in 2023.

Fair enough, he hadn’t been quite as effective since recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in September 2024, but he was back to his best at the World Cup for Spain, where he lifted the famous trophy and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.

Guardiola even predicted it, saying in October 2025: “Rodri will recover his top level for the 2026 World Cup… and starting from next season, he’ll be at his very best.”

Unfortunately for City, that won’t be with them.

Since Rodri joined in 2019, City have had a better win rate with him in the team than without. In total, he played 298 games in all competitions for the club, of which they won 213 (71.5%). Compare that to the 122 games he missed, of which they won 76 (62.3%).

Perhaps more noteworthy, though, was how much more difficult they were to beat with Rodri in the team. Their loss percentage was just 12.1% with Rodri and 26.2% without. In the Premier League, City lost just 22 of the 196 games in which he played (11.2%), compared to 19 of the 70 he didn’t (27.2%).

Other midfielders have come in to hopefully take up the mantle, but when you lose arguably the best midfielder on the planet, it’s a big ask to not miss him to some extent.

Will Maresca Get the Best Out of Foden?

It feels like this could have been a question to ask in several recent seasons, but here we are again. Which version of Phil Foden will we see in 2026-27?

The 26-year-old had a season of two halves last term. Foden ended with 10 goals and seven assists in 50 games, though the last of his goals was scored on 14 December 2025. In his final 29 games of the campaign, Foden failed to find the net, and only recorded three assists. That alarming dip in output is likely what caused Thomas Tuchel to leave him out of his England squad for the 2026 World Cup.

It was a far cry from his stunning 2023-24 season, when he recorded 39 goal involvements in 53 games (27 goals, 12 assists).

Can he get back to those levels with a new manager, though?

Well, there is another enigmatic and left-footed attacking midfielder who was snubbed by Tuchel this summer and who often thrived under Maresca’s guidance.

Cole Palmer managed 35 goal involvements (22 goals, 13 assists) in 62 games under the Italian, who largely built his Chelsea team around the former Man City youth product.

If Maresca can get a similar tune out of Foden, that could help alleviate any teething problems he might have with what is looking like an increasingly unfamiliar midfield…

Stuck in the Middle with… Who?

With Maresca in for Guardiola, it already feels like a big reset at City this summer, and then you look at the midfield, which has been decimated, quite frankly.

Not that long ago, we all marvelled at a midfield trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva pulling the strings.

Over last summer and this, though, all three have departed, while new arrivals haven’t exactly torn up any trees.

Tijjani Reijnders made a good start last season but faded, and is now reportedly on his way to the Saudi Pro League, while Nico González was supposed to be Rodri’s heir but is also being linked with a move away before the transfer window shuts.

It was anticipated that City would invest in a midfield rebuild this summer, and it started with dropping £116 million on Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson. Of all midfielders from Europe’s top five leagues last season, the England international was the one whose output profiled most closely with Rodri according to our Opta Player Radars.

Anderson won possession 306 times in the Premier League last season; no other player from Europe’s top five leagues won possession more than 212 times, so Maresca will have unparalleled steeliness to win the ball back for his new side.

Teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi impressed for Morocco at the World Cup, and is reportedly likely to be the next midfielder through the door at City. The club were supposedly considering a move for Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández as well, though Maresca’s former employers reportedly slapped a £120m price on his head, which was seemingly a bit much for City.

Whoever ends up representing City in midfield this season will have big shoes to fill, and how quickly they settle could determine whether Maresca’s men are capable of a title challenge.

If in doubt, they can just pass it to the big Norwegian ahead of them…

Will Haaland Get Some Help?

Erling Haaland scores goals. That’s what the probable cyborg is programmed to do.

However, on occasion, he’d probably like a bit of help.

Haaland bagged 38 goals in all competitions last season for City, collecting his third Premier League Golden Boot with 27 strikes in the English top flight. He’s only one behind the record for most PL Golden Boots (Alan Shearer and Mohamed Salah – both 4).

City’s second top scorer in all competitions was Antoine Semenyo (11), who only joined the club from Bournemouth in January.

Of their other attacking players, Foden and Rayan Cherki managed 10 goals each, Omar Marmoush just eight, the same for Jérémy Doku, while Savinho only scored four.

Having Haaland be the main man isn’t a problem. He scored 35 more goals than any of his teammates in their amazing ‘treble’ season of 2022-23, but there were at least three other City players who reached 15+ goals that term (Julián Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez and Foden).

Maresca will surely keep up the tactic of feeding Haaland as often as possible, but we saw last season that there can be days when it just won’t go in for him, and so others will need to step up more often when needed.

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