Lijnders leaves Man City after one year to prioritise family over new role

Pep Lijnders is leaving Manchester City after just one season, turning down the club’s offer of a continued role because he and his wife want to establish a permanent home for their children rather than commit to another extended spell in England.

The 43-year-old Dutchman joined City last summer in a surprise move after Pep Guardiola personally reached out in May 2024. With Guardiola now ending his decade at the Etihad, Lijnders has chosen to follow him out rather than accept either a position on the incoming manager’s staff or a head coaching role at a club within the City Football Group.

“My wife and I want a permanent place for our growing sons,” Lijnders told Dutch outlet AD. “Moving back to England for years is no longer an option. Without my family, I wouldn’t do a second year anyway.”

Lijnders revealed that Guardiola was transparent from the outset about the limited scope of the project. “When Pep called in May last year, he was immediately open,” he said. “He said: ‘I want to build a new City one more time.’ He knew how Jürgen and I worked together at Liverpool and had Klopp’s blessing to sound me out. He also said that he was in the final two years of his contract. ‘So it’s not about a long-term project. Is that a problem for you?’”

Lijnders described Guardiola as looking for three specific things: a coach who would challenge him with fresh ideas, a more aggressive playing style suited to an increasingly physical Premier League, and innovation on the training pitch. He offered a vivid portrait of working alongside the Catalan. “He is very intense. Every day we were busy from morning until evening. He approaches creating a match plan like a surgeon performs heart surgery: extremely meticulously, checking every vital part with tweezers. And, just like Klopp, he has genuine love for his players. That love is what distinguishes the absolute top coaches from the rest.”

Lijnders began his coaching career at PSV and Porto before joining Liverpool in 2014. After a brief spell as manager of Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, he returned to Anfield and became a central figure in Jurgen Klopp’s backroom team across a trophy-laden era. He left Liverpool for a second time in 2024 to take charge of Red Bull Salzburg, a role that lasted just 29 games before he moved to City six months later.