Media reports say that Pep Guardiola and man city agreed with Liverpool’s long-time assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders to join the team as assistant manager for the 2025–26 season.
Man city had a very poor season, and the club now plans to make many internal changes, both among the players and within Guardiola’s coaching staff.
Pep brings in Liverpool’s key coach
Guardiola decided to add Lijnders to his coaching team this summer. According to The Times, he plans to count on him to help bring back man city’s strong performances.
Lijnders, who is 42, became one of Liverpool’s most important coaches during his time at the club. He worked there for 10 years between 2014 and 2024, acting as assistant coach to both Brendan Rodgers and Jürgen Klopp.
The Dutch coach played a big part in all of Liverpool’s recent successes. He helped the club win the Premier League in 2020 and the Champions League in 2019.
Lijnders will arrive at man city just as three important assistant coaches leave Guardiola’s staff. These coaches are Juanma Lillo, Carlos Vicens, and Iñigo Dominguez.
Lijnders changes his mind because of Guardiola
Lijnders was close to becoming head coach at Norwich City in the Championship. But he changed his plan and chose man city instead after speaking with Guardiola.
Back in 2023, Lijnders said in public interviews that he would only return to coaching if Klopp asked him. But now he changed his mind after serious talks with Guardiola in the last few days.
Guardiola’s next challenge with man city will begin when the team plays in the Club World Cup in the United States this June. Man city are in Group G with Juventus, Al Ain, and Wydad Casablanca.
The Spanish manager wants to fix what has been a terrible season by doing well at the Club World Cup. He knows the tournament well, as he already won it four times: twice with Barcelona, once with Bayern Munich, and once with man city.
Man city will play their first Club World Cup match against Wydad Casablanca at Lincoln Financial Field on Wednesday, June 18. Then they will face Al Ain on June 23 and Juventus on June 26.
