The greatest ever? 

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One of the true greats is officially saying goodbye. Perhaps the greatest ever. An era of dominance and relentless success is coming to an end. Manchester City have announced that legendary manager Pep Guardiola will exit the club after Sunday’s final Premier League match against Aston Villa. His current contract had set to expire at the end of next season in 2027. It is thought that Man City are considering naming the newly expanded North Stand after their departing manager as an option to pay homage to the club’s greatest ever boss. In a club statement, Guardiola said: “What a time we have had together. Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it’s my time. Nothing is eternal, if it was, I would be here. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City.”

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who worked under Guardiola at City, is expected to replace the 55-year-old. Over the past 10 years, Guardiola has led City to 15 major trophies – and 20 in all – including six Premier League titles, the Champions League, three FA Cups and five EFL Cups. He has capped his incredible spell in Manchester having already won the FA Cup and the EFL Cup this season. So is the Spaniard the greatest we have ever seen on these shores? When it comes to trophies won per season, not even Sir Alex Ferguson can match Guardiola.

Most trophies won per season by Premier League managers

To try and quantify Guardiola’s dominance of English football, we have compared every manager to have won five or more major trophies as a Premier League manager since 1992/93 in the following competitions: Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League and Europa League. As it happens, only five bosses have ever managed this feat, but none at the rate of the great Guardiola. In his 10 seasons at Man City he has won those trophies a monstrous 15 times, giving him a trophies-per-season rate of 1.50.

In contrast, Ferguson, who is Guardiola’s biggest rival when it comes to the greatest manager in Premier League history, won 22 trophies during his 21 seasons in charge of Manchester United whilst they were in the Premier League. That equates to a record of just 1.05 trophies-per-season – well short of Guardiola’s ratio. The Scot did win 13 Premier League titles and his longevity should be taken into account in the greatest manager debate, but he simply can’t match Guardiola’s relentless numbers.

José Mourinho won nine trophies in the aforementioned competitions during his time in charge of Chelsea and Manchester United, but has managed in 12 different seasons in the Premier League, giving him a trophy-per-season rate of 0.75. Jürgen Klopp won five trophies in his nine seasons with Liverpool, equating to 0.56 trophies-per-season, whilst Arsène Wenger, won 10 trophies in his 22 Premier League seasons with Arsenal, giving him a hit rate of 0.45 trophies-per-season.