Manchester City confirm triple coaching staff exit in club statement

Pep Guardiola has seen three members of his backroom staff at Manchester City leave the club, a statement issued from the Etihad Stadium has confirmed.

It is the latest in what is expected to be a significant off-season for Manchester City, following on from a difficult campaign across all competitions that left them without a single piece of major silverware for the first time since the 2016/17 season.

The trio follow Kevin De Bruyne out of the Etihad Stadium door, after club bosses also decided not to extend the Belgian’s agreement beyond its expiry date at the end of June, with the 33-year-old expected to join Serie A champions Napoli in the coming days.

Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain are expected to also oversee a number of alterations in terms of first-team players, with further exits from the squad anticipated alongside high-profile investments made in defence and midfield in particular.

Now, in a statement issued by Manchester City on Wednesday, the club have confirmed the departures of three members of backroom staff, as the release announced, “Assistant Coaches Juanma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez will leave Manchester City upon expiry of their contracts.”

The statement continued, “Lillo, who expressed a desire to return home to Spain, enjoyed two hugely successful periods at the Club after originally joining as Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach in 2020. He left City in the summer of 2022 to become Head Coach of Al-Sadd before rejoining as assistant in 2023.

“Dominguez also leaves after supporting Guardiola and the players for the last two years, joining at the same time as Lillo’s second spell at the Club.

“Carlos Vicens has also departed the Club after agreeing to become the Head Coach of Portuguese side S.C Braga. The Spaniard, who joined the Club in 2017 and helped lead the Under-18s to an FA Youth Cup in 2020, has been part of Guardiola’s backroom staff for four years.”

Manchester City’s statement also confirmed, “The assistant coaches to succeed Juanma, Inigo and Carlos will be announced in due course,” before thanking the trio for their immense contributions to the club and Pep Guardiola’s staffing structure over recent years.

Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad are expected to play an integral part in the squad list that is put together by Pep Guardiola for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, and as such it appears as though the focus with regards to coaching centres around a similar direction.

It has been reported in light of the confirmed backroom staff exits that lead coach of the club’s Under-21s Ben Wilkinson alongside his assistant Craig Mudd will join up with Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad in the United States for the tournament.

As such, the belief is that both men will play an important role in ensuring that youth squad players have a seamless integration into the senior set-up, and have familiar figures around the camp to raise any issues during the competition.