Manager Pep Guardiola will restructure Man City’s coaching staff, after three key assistants officially left Etihad at the end of the Premier League season.
Juanma Lillo, Carlos Vicens and Inigo Dominguez are the names that will leave Man City . Guardiola wants new voices, new ideas to challenge himself and continue to innovate his coaching style.
Lillo, who returns to Man City in 2023 after a spell between 2020 and 2022, will not be renewed when his current contract expires at the end of the season. Dominguez, the technical coach, is in a similar situation.
Lillo has a long-standing close relationship with Guardiola, which began when the Spaniard played for Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico in 2006 – the final stop of his playing career.
Guardiola considers this a coaching internship when working alongside Lillo – who once set a record as the youngest coach ever to lead in La Liga, at just 29 years old.
Entering his 10th season in charge of Man City, Guardiola realises that not only the squad, but also the coaching staff need freshness – something he is prioritising this summer.
Man City just finished the season in 3rd place, marking the first time Pep finished outside the Top 2 since his first season in charge in England, after 4 consecutive Premier League titles.
Carlos Vicens, assistant and set-piece coach, has agreed to take over at Braga – the Portuguese club that has just parted ways with Carlos Carvalhal (former Sheffield Wednesday coach). In fact, Guardiola is no stranger to assistants leaving after learning from him.
- Mikel Arteta spent nearly four years at Arsenal before taking charge in 2019.
- Enzo Maresca, now Chelsea head coach, also spent a season working with Pep before coming to Leicester.
- Previously, Domenec Torrent and Rodolfo Borrell – close associates from Barca and Bayern – also left in 2018 and 2023 respectively.
Man City have the advantage of the City Football Group’s multi-club network, allowing them to easily find a coach whose style is compatible. However, choosing a new assistant needs to consider coaching expertise and personality – whether they will be compatible with Guardiola.
With Vicens gone, Guardiola will certainly need another set-piece specialist, and it is possible that many of the seats alongside him on the coaching bench next season will be filled with brand new faces.