Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Pep Guardiola threatened to quit "100 times" but admitted he knew this time that the Spaniard actually meant it.

Guardiola stepped down as City boss at the end of the 2025-26 season, bringing the curtain down on a glittering, trophy-laden 10-year spell at the Etihad.

He won 20 major trophies with City, including six Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Guardiola had one year remaining on his contract and had hinted in interviews that he would see out the remainder of his contract, but ultimately decided against doing so.

His decision was announced two days before City's final match of the season – a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, where he said goodbye to the fans at home.

"I knew it, and that's why I didn't fight it," Al Mubarak told City's media team during his annual interview.

"Throughout these years, I've always fought it and always brought him back because I knew that was always the answer.

"But in this particular one, I think he knew – and I knew that he knew – and that is why it was the right thing for him, and it was the natural thing.

"He's more than just the manager of the club. To me, he's a friend. Over these years, we have become close friends, and I don't know if he will admit it, but I consider myself his psychiatrist.

"Inevitably, we have had a lot of ups and some downs, and in the downs, he must have quit 100 times over these 10 years.

"There is the story, as you all know, 'The Boy that Cries Wolf'. In the case of Pep, when he says I quit, it doesn't mean he's quitting. You don't take it that seriously – you have to manage him.

"He never thought he would stay more than four years, then more than five years. So in his mind, even years four and five, it was always 'OK, how much more time? How much more time?' And it always had to be done in the correct way.

"There was always going to be one moment where it was going to be real."

Guardiola's former assistant Enzo Maresca, who led Chelsea to the Conference League and Club World Cup titles during his 18-month tenure at Stamford Bridge, is currently the favourite to succeed the Spaniard.

City are reportedly in talks with Chelsea about compensation for their former boss and are hopeful of reaching an agreement this week.

Asked about their search for a new boss, Al Mubarak added: "Just be patient with us.

"Very soon we will announce it, and you will be comfortable that we have selected and brought in the best manager possible."