Pep Guardiola makes bold Manchester City prediction ahead of 2025/26 season | OneFootball

Manchester City “will be better” next season, according to head coach Pep Guardiola, despite a hesitance to state whether there would be a strong pursuit of major honours.

The four-in-a-row Premier League champions have endured their worst season to date under the Catalan coach since his arrival in 2016, exiting the race for the top-flight crown by the turn of the year and failing to reach the Champions League’s last-16 for the first time since 2012.

A number of factors have been credited for Manchester City’s staggering decline in performance levels this season, most notably the high-profile injuries that have been inflicted on the squad with little depth to recover from such absentees.

Club officials moved swiftly to reinvest during the January transfer window and bring in fresh faces to re-energise a struggling squad, but it was too little too late and Manchester City are now forced to compete for one remaining piece of silverware and European qualification.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of yet another FA Cup semi-final, Pep Guardiola was asked whether reaching another final in the competition and securing a top-five finish in the Premier League would give him another ‘satisfaction’.

“First we have to arrive in the final, first. I have too much respect (for Nottingham Forest). The second one, as I’ve said many times, the season has not been good, regardless if we reach the final or go to the Champions League,” Guardiola said.

“But of course we would avoid bigger damage for the club. The season has not been good. So from my point of view, what dictates whether the season is good is the Premier League, all the time!

“Because it gives you week by week, happiness, good momentum, and after FA Cups, Champions League – it’s more the keeper saves, not saves, penalty miss, not miss makes the difference.

“But the Premier League dictates how has been your season, and our season has not been good. But it could be worse, at the same time, right?! It could be worse, not being in 5th, or 4th, or 3rd like right now, it could be even worse!”

The Manchester City manager continued, “So now we’re in the position it’s in our hands, we have this incredible opportunity to be three in a row at the final of the FA Cup, and after we have a few days to play against Wolves – that again, we receive like Crystal Palace when they came here in their best moment of the season – five games in a row, six games in a row – and after we have long weeks, it depends if we reach the final or not, to prepare for the last three or four games, and hopefully we can do it.”

Looking ahead to the next campaign, that is likely to follow another period of heavy investment from club officials led by incoming sporting director Hugo Viana, Pep Guardiola is anticipating a significant recovery from his first-team squad.

“Next season will be better,” the 54-year-old told reporters on Friday. “I think everyone learned the lesson, and next season I think we will compete in the Premier League a little bit better than has happened this season.”

Manchester City take on Nottingham Forest in this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium with the chance of a third consecutive final in the competition up for grabs where they will face either Crystal Palace or Aston Villa.