Manchester City
the Cityzens.

Manchester City First-Team Squad

Enzo Maresca inherits a formidable squad captained by the versatile Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva. Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland, the Premier League’s top scorer, leads the line, supported by the creativity of Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku and new signing Rayan Cherki, with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri anchoring the midfield.

Squad correct as of the summer 2026 window, which runs until 1 September — numbers and personnel may change. Follow every Manchester City fixture and prediction at AI Pro Prediction and our Champions League predictions hub.

Manchester City: A Complete Guide to the Cityzens

Origins and Identity

Manchester City Football Club traces its origins to 1880, when it was founded as St. Mark’s (West Gorton) in east Manchester, later becoming Ardwick Association Football Club before adopting the name Manchester City in 1894. For much of its history, City were the great sleeping giant of English football, a club with a passionate, loyal support that endured decades of underachievement, relegations and financial struggle before its dramatic transformation into the dominant force of the modern English game.

Playing in their distinctive sky-blue shirts, the club is known as the Cityzens and traditionally as the Sky Blues. City play their home matches at the Etihad Stadium, their home since 2003, a modern arena in east Manchester that has been expanded and developed into one of the finest stadiums in the country. The club’s identity, long defined by the loyalty of supporters who stood by their team through the lean years, has in the modern era become synonymous with breathtaking, dominant football and unprecedented success.

The Long Years of Struggle and Early Glory

Manchester City’s history before the modern era was one of dramatic highs and painful lows. The club won its first Football League First Division title in 1937 and enjoyed a golden period in the late 1960s and early 1970s under the celebrated management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. That side, featuring legends such as Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee, won the league title in 1968, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970, establishing City as a genuine force in English and European football. That team is fondly remembered as one of the finest in the club’s long history.

However, the decades that followed were largely defined by decline and turbulence. City suffered relegations, financial difficulties and a prolonged period in the shadow of their neighbours and rivals, at one point dropping into the third tier of English football in the late 1990s. It was a period that tested the loyalty of supporters to the very limit, yet the fans never wavered in their devotion to the club. Through all of this, the club’s supporters remained famously loyal and passionate, their unwavering devotion a defining feature of Manchester City that endured through the darkest days and laid the emotional foundation for the glory that would eventually come.

The Heart of East Manchester

Manchester City have always been deeply rooted in the communities of east Manchester, and the club’s modern development has been closely tied to the regeneration of the area around the Etihad Stadium. The building of the Etihad Campus transformed a formerly industrial part of the city into a world-class sporting complex, bringing investment, employment and facilities to the local community. This connection to east Manchester is a source of pride for the club and its supporters.

The club’s community programmes and its investment in the local area reflect a commitment that extends beyond football. For generations, City’s support was drawn heavily from these communities, and the loyalty of those supporters through decades of struggle forms an essential part of the club’s identity. The success of the modern era has been built upon this foundation of devoted local support, and the bond between the club and its heartland remains as strong as ever.

The 2008 Takeover: A New Dawn

The defining moment in Manchester City’s modern history came in 2008, when the club was purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group, led by Sheikh Mansour. The takeover transformed City overnight into one of the wealthiest clubs in world football, providing the resources to attract elite players and managers and to build the infrastructure required to compete at the very highest level. It marked the beginning of the club’s astonishing rise to the summit of the English and European game.

The investment quickly bore fruit. In 2011, City won the FA Cup, their first major trophy in 35 years, and qualified for the Champions League. Then, in 2012, came a moment that would live forever in the club’s history: on the final day of the season, Sergio Agüero scored a stoppage-time winner against Queens Park Rangers to clinch City’s first league title in 44 years, in one of the most dramatic conclusions to a season the English game has ever witnessed. That title signalled the arrival of Manchester City as a genuine powerhouse.

The City Football Group

Manchester City sit at the heart of the City Football Group, a global network of football clubs owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group and its partners. This pioneering multi-club ownership model, the first of its scale in world football, includes clubs across multiple continents and has established City at the centre of a global footballing empire. The model allows for the sharing of resources, expertise, scouting networks and playing philosophy across the group’s clubs.

This innovative structure reflects the ambition and vision that have defined Manchester City’s modern era, extending the club’s influence and reach far beyond Manchester. The City Football Group has become one of the most significant entities in world football, and its creation underlined the scale of the transformation that has taken place at the club since the 2008 takeover, positioning Manchester City not merely as a football club but as the flagship of a worldwide footballing organisation.

The Mancini and Pellegrini Years

Before the Guardiola era, Manchester City laid the foundations for their dominance under two accomplished managers. Roberto Mancini, appointed in 2009, delivered the club’s first FA Cup in decades in 2011 and the dramatic first Premier League title in 2012, ending the club’s long wait for league glory. His side, featuring stars such as Sergio Agüero, David Silva, Yaya Touré and captain Vincent Kompany, announced City’s arrival as a genuine force.

Manuel Pellegrini succeeded Mancini and guided City to a second Premier League title in 2014, along with the League Cup, playing an attractive brand of attacking football. These early successes under Mancini and Pellegrini established the winning culture and assembled the core of talented players that Pep Guardiola would later mould into the greatest team in the club’s history. They represent an important bridge between the club’s takeover and the era of total dominance that followed.

Manchester City Season-by-Season: Recent Premier League Record

The table below charts Manchester City’s Premier League finishes across recent seasons, illustrating the club’s extraordinary dominance under Pep Guardiola, including a run of four consecutive titles, before the transitional 2024–25 and 2025–26 campaigns that concluded the Catalan’s legendary reign.

As the data demonstrates, Manchester City established a period of dominance almost unprecedented in English football, winning six of seven Premier League titles across one remarkable stretch, including becoming the first club in English top-flight history to win four consecutive league titles. The second-placed finish in 2025–26, Guardiola’s farewell season, was accompanied by a domestic cup double and secured qualification for the Champions League under new manager Enzo Maresca.

The Guardiola Revolution

The appointment of Pep Guardiola in 2016 elevated Manchester City to unprecedented heights and transformed the club into the dominant force in English football. Widely regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of the game, Guardiola brought a revolutionary, possession-based philosophy that produced some of the most beautiful and effective football ever seen in England. His impact was immediate and enduring, and over the following decade he rewrote the record books at the Etihad.

Under Guardiola, City won the Premier League title on multiple occasions, including a historic run of four in a row, and set numerous records along the way. In the 2017–18 season, the ‘Centurions’ became the first team in English top-flight history to reach 100 points in a single campaign, playing a brand of football of breathtaking quality. Guardiola’s City redefined the standards of English football, and his Teams were admired around the world for their tactical sophistication, technical brilliance and relentless attacking excellence.

The 2023 Treble: The Crowning Glory

The pinnacle of Manchester City’s history — and of the Guardiola era — arrived in the 2022–23 season, when the club achieved the historic Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. City became only the second English club ever to accomplish the feat, emulating Manchester United’s achievement of 1999. The crowning moment was the club’s first-ever Champions League triumph, a 1–0 victory over Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul that finally delivered the trophy the club had craved for so long.

The Treble represented the culmination of years of investment, planning and footballing excellence, and confirmed Manchester City as the finest team in the world. The side went on to add the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup later that year, cementing their status as world champions. The achievements of that period stand as the greatest in the club’s history and among the most impressive by any English club in the modern era.

This clean sweep of major honours in a single calendar year underlined the completeness of Guardiola’s Manchester City and their dominance of the domestic, European and world game. It was the realisation of the vision that had begun with the 2008 takeover, and it placed the club firmly among the elite of world football. For a club that had waited so long and endured so much, the treble represented the ultimate vindication of the ambition and investment that had reshaped Manchester City, and it stands as the defining achievement of the club’s entire history, a season that will be remembered and celebrated by City supporters for generations to come.

Manchester City’s Major Honours

Manchester City’s transformation is reflected in a trophy cabinet that has been filled at a remarkable rate during the modern era. The club has now won ten English league titles, the majority of them during the Guardiola years, along with numerous FA Cups, League Cups and, of course, the coveted Champions League. The full breakdown of the club’s major honours is charted below.

The scale of Manchester City’s success during the Guardiola era transformed the club from a historic underachiever into the dominant force in English football and one of the most successful clubs in the world. The challenge for the new era under Enzo Maresca is to sustain this extraordinary level of achievement and to continue adding to a trophy cabinet that has been utterly transformed over the past decade and a half.

Erling Haaland: The Goal Machine

Since his arrival in 2022, Erling Haaland has established himself as one of the most prolific and feared strikers in the history of the game. The Norwegian broke the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season in his debut campaign, an astonishing achievement that helped drive City to the Treble. His combination of power, pace, movement and clinical finishing has made him an almost unstoppable force, and he has continued to plunder goals at an extraordinary rate.

Haaland’s goalscoring exploits have been central to Manchester City’s continued success, and in the 2025–26 season he claimed the Premier League Golden Boot once again with 27 league goals. Still in his mid-twenties, the Norwegian is the talismanic focal point of the City attack and one of the biggest stars in world football. His presence gives City a goalscoring guarantee that few clubs can match, and he will be central to the team’s ambitions in the new era under Enzo Maresca. Records have tumbled throughout his time in England, and at his current rate the Norwegian appears destined to rewrite the goalscoring history books, giving Manchester City a decisive advantage in the pursuit of every trophy on offer.

Legendary Players of the Modern Era

The modern Manchester City has been graced by an array of world-class talent. Sergio Agüero, the club’s all-time top scorer, is an eternal legend for his stoppage-time title-winning goal in 2012 and his years of prolific goalscoring. Belgian maestro Kevin De Bruyne, one of the finest midfielders of his generation, orchestrated the team’s play for a decade and is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to represent the club, his creativity and vision central to City’s dominance.

The Spanish midfielder Rodri, a Ballon d’Or winner, became the indispensable anchor of the Guardiola team, his control and intelligence underpinning the club’s success. Other modern greats include David Silva, the elegant Spanish playmaker known affectionately as ‘El Mago’ (the Magician), Vincent Kompany, the inspirational captain of the club’s rise, and Yaya Touré, whose power and goals drove the early title successes. Together, these players formed the backbone of the most successful era in Manchester City’s history.

Playing Philosophy and the City Style

Manchester City are renowned for playing a distinctive, possession-based brand of football that reached its zenith under Pep Guardiola. The style is built on patient build-up play, positional discipline, intricate passing and relentless attacking pressure, with players comfortable in possession and capable of breaking down even the most stubborn defensive setups. This approach, allied to intense pressing to win the ball back quickly, made City one of the most admired and effective teams in the history of English football.

The appointment of Enzo Maresca, who served as Guardiola’s assistant during the treble-winning campaign and shares his possession-based philosophy, was designed to ensure continuity of this footballing identity. Maresca demonstrated his own credentials by winning promotion with Leicester City and lifting the Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea, and his intimate knowledge of the club and its methods make him well suited to sustaining the distinctive style that has become synonymous with Manchester City.

Manchester City Women

Manchester City’s commitment to excellence extends to the women’s game, with Manchester City Women established as one of the leading clubs in English women’s football. The team has won the Women’s Super League, the Women’s FA Cup and the League Cup, competing at the highest level domestically and in Europe. The club’s investment in the women’s game reflects its holistic approach to football and its ambition to compete for honours across every level of the sport.

The success of Manchester City Women has been an important part of the club’s modern identity, and the team plays its matches at the Joie Stadium within the Etihad Campus, benefiting from the same world-class facilities as the men’s side. The club’s commitment to the women’s game underlines its status as a modern, forward-thinking institution determined to lead the sport across all its forms.

Youth Development and Phil Foden

Despite its ability to sign the finest players in the world, Manchester City also place significant value on developing home-grown talent through the City Football Academy. The finest example of this is Phil Foden, an academy graduate who developed into one of the best English players of his generation and a key member of the club’s title-winning and treble-winning teams. His emergence demonstrated that the club’s investment in youth development could produce genuine top-level talent to complement its elite signings.

The pathway from the academy to the first team remains an important part of the club’s philosophy, and the City Football Academy is regarded as one of the finest youth development operations in world football. The blending of home-grown talent with world-class recruitment has been central to Manchester City’s sustained success, and the club remains committed to nurturing the next generation of stars to carry its traditions forward.

The Etihad Stadium and Campus

The Etihad Stadium has been Manchester City’s home since 2003, having originally been built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Over the years, the club has expanded and developed the ground into a modern arena with a capacity of around 53,000, with further expansion underway to increase its size. The stadium is the centrepiece of the Etihad Campus, a state-of-the-art complex in east Manchester that includes the City Football Academy, one of the finest training and youth development facilities in world football.

This investment in world-class infrastructure reflects the ambition and professionalism that have defined Manchester City’s modern era. The City Football Academy has become a model for player development, and the club’s commitment to producing home-grown talent, exemplified by academy graduates such as Phil Foden, complements its recruitment of elite players. The Etihad Campus stands as a symbol of the club’s transformation and its determination to sustain success for generations to come.

The Manchester Derby and Rivalries

Manchester City’s fiercest rivalry is with neighbours Manchester United, contested in the Manchester derby — one of the most passionate and significant fixtures in English football. As City rose to prominence in the modern era, the derby grew in importance, and matches between the two Manchester clubs are now among the most eagerly anticipated occasions of the season, laden with local pride and, increasingly, title implications.

City also developed intense rivalries with the other members of English football’s elite, particularly Liverpool, with whom they contested a series of thrilling title races during the Guardiola era, and Arsenal, who emerged as the club’s primary challengers in recent seasons. These rivalries, forged in the heat of title battles and dramatic encounters, have added to the drama and intensity of Manchester City’s rise to the top and are a central part of the modern Premier League landscape.

The Centurions and Record-Breakers

Manchester City’s dominance under Pep Guardiola was defined not only by trophies but by a series of extraordinary records. In the 2017–18 season, City became the first team in English top-flight history to reach 100 points in a single campaign, earning the side the nickname ‘The Centurions’. That team also set records for the most wins, the most goals and the biggest winning margin in Premier League history, playing football of a quality rarely, if ever, seen before in the English game.

Across the Guardiola era, City repeatedly broke records and set new standards, from consecutive victories to goals scored to their unprecedented run of four successive league titles. These achievements underlined the completeness of the team Guardiola built and cemented Manchester City’s place among the greatest sides in the history of English football. The statistical dominance of these teams stands as a testament to the excellence of the players and the vision of the manager who moulded them.

Kevin De Bruyne: A Modern Great

For a decade, Kevin De Bruyne was the creative heartbeat of Manchester City and one of the finest midfielders in the world. The Belgian’s extraordinary passing range, vision and goalscoring made him the key playmaker of the Guardiola era, and his contributions were central to every one of the club’s triumphs, including the historic treble. Twice named the Premier League’s Player of the Season, De Bruyne is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to grace the English game.

His departure at the end of his contract in 2025 marked the end of an era and left a significant void in the City midfield. Replacing a player of his unique quality is one of the challenges facing the club in the new era, but his legacy at the Etihad is secure. De Bruyne’s brilliance illuminated Manchester City’s rise to the summit of world football, and he will be remembered as one of the defining figures of the club’s greatest period.

Vincent Kompany: The Inspirational Captain

No player better embodied Manchester City’s rise from underachievers to champions than Vincent Kompany. The Belgian centre-back captained the club through its first Premier League titles, a colossal defensive presence and an inspirational leader whose passion and commitment made him the heartbeat of the team. His thunderous long-range goal against Leicester City in the run-in to the 2018–19 title remains one of the most iconic moments in the club’s history.

Kompany’s leadership, both on and off the pitch, was instrumental in transforming City’s mentality and instilling the winning culture that would define the modern era. Revered by supporters as one of the greatest and most important figures in the club’s history, he embodied the spirit and determination of City’s ascent. His legacy as a captain and a leader endures, and he is rightly remembered as a genuine club legend who lifted Manchester City to the summit of the English game.

The Current Squad

Enzo Maresca inherits a squad of exceptional quality, blending world-class experience with exciting new talent. The team is captained by Bernardo Silva, the versatile and hard-working Portuguese midfielder who has been a mainstay of the club’s success, and led in attack by the prolific Erling Haaland, whose goals remain the foundation of City’s ambitions. The midfield is anchored by Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, one of the finest defensive midfielders in the world, whose control and intelligence are central to the team’s play.

The squad was strengthened with a series of significant signings, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, one of the best in the world in his position, midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, defender Marc Guéhi and the exciting French playmaker Rayan Cherki. Allied to the established quality of players such as Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku, Rúben Dias and Joško Gvardiol, this gives Maresca a formidable group capable of competing on all fronts. The challenge for the new manager is to integrate the new signings and to sustain the standards of excellence established during the Guardiola years.

The depth and quality of the City squad remain the envy of most clubs in world football, and the blend of experience, youth and new additions provides Maresca with a strong platform. As the team adapts to a new manager and a new era, the expectation among supporters is that City will continue to challenge for the biggest honours, and the squad certainly possesses the talent to do so.

Champions League Ambitions

Having finally won the Champions League in 2023, Manchester City’s ambition is now to establish themselves as a regular force in the competition and to add further European crowns to their history. For a club that waited so long for its first, and which invested so heavily in the pursuit of continental glory, the Champions League represents the ultimate prize and a central objective of every season. The 2026–27 campaign offers another opportunity to compete for the trophy under new management.

City’s squad, packed with world-class talent and led by the goals of Erling Haaland, is well equipped to challenge deep in the competition. The experience gained from winning the trophy in 2023, and from years of competing at the latter stages, has forged a team accustomed to the demands of European football’s biggest nights. The Etihad Stadium on a Champions League evening is a formidable venue, and City’s supporters dream of more glorious European nights and the addition of a second star to the club’s history under Enzo Maresca.

A Global Force

The transformation of Manchester City over the past decade and a half has extended the club’s reach and appeal across the globe. Once a club whose support was largely local, City now command a vast and growing international following, drawn by the brilliance of the football played during the Guardiola era and the success the club has enjoyed. The City Football Group’s global network has further extended the club’s influence and brand around the world.

Yet at its heart, Manchester City remains rooted in the passionate, loyal support of east Manchester, the fans who stood by the club through the difficult years and who have been rewarded with unprecedented success. This combination of a devoted traditional support and a growing global fanbase reflects the club’s remarkable journey from historic underachiever to global superpower, and underlines the scale of what Manchester City have become in the modern era of the game.

The 2025–26 Season and Guardiola’s Farewell

The 2025–26 season marked the end of an era at Manchester City, as Pep Guardiola bid an emotional farewell after a transformative decade in charge. Although City did not reclaim the Premier League title, finishing second with 78 points behind champions Arsenal, Guardiola’s final season was far from without success. The club won a domestic cup double, lifting both the FA Cup — a record-extending eighth triumph in the competition — and the EFL Cup, with Guardiola becoming the first manager to win the League Cup on five occasions.

The second-placed finish secured qualification for the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League, ensuring City’s continued presence among Europe’s elite. Erling Haaland once again led the goalscoring charts, claiming the Golden Boot, while the squad demonstrated the quality and depth that have become synonymous with the club. Guardiola departed as the most decorated and successful manager in the club’s history, his legacy assured, having transformed Manchester City into a global superpower. In his decade at the Etihad, he won an unprecedented collection of trophies, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League, and redefined the standards of English football. His farewell was marked by an outpouring of gratitude from supporters who recognised that he had led the club through the greatest period in its history, and his influence on Manchester City and on the English game as a whole will be felt for many years to come. For all the latest Manchester City match previews, team news and score forecasts, follow our Champions League match predictions throughout the season.

Looking Ahead

As Manchester City enter the 2026–27 season, a new era begins under Enzo Maresca, the former Guardiola assistant tasked with the monumental challenge of succeeding a legend. The objectives remain as ambitious as ever: to reclaim the Premier League title from Arsenal, to compete for and win a second Champions League, and to sustain the extraordinary standards established during the Guardiola years. With a squad brimming with world-class talent, led by the goals of Erling Haaland and anchored by Rodri, City possess the tools to remain at the very summit of the game. For a club transformed into a global superpower, and with a fanbase that dreamed for decades of such success, nothing less than a continued challenge for the biggest honours will satisfy the demands of the Cityzens as they embark on this new and exciting chapter in their history. The transition from a manager of Guardiola’s stature is one of the great challenges in modern football, but the strength of the squad, the quality of the infrastructure and the ambition of the ownership give City every reason for confidence. From the drama of Agüero’s title-winning goal to the glory of the treble, Manchester City have provided their supporters with unforgettable moments over the past decade and a half, and the belief at the Etihad is that many more await under Enzo Maresca as the club seeks to extend its remarkable era of success and cement its place among the true giants of the world game.