Nico González Considers Manchester City Exit Amid Guardiola Changes
Nico González arrived at Manchester City as a mid-season solution and briefly looked like far more than that. Now, 18 months on, he is preparing to walk away from the Etihad in search of the one thing Pep Guardiola never truly gave him: guaranteed minutes.
The 24-year-old Spaniard, a Barcelona academy graduate, is understood to be exploring a summer move after growing increasingly frustrated with his role on the fringes of City’s midfield. Times Sport’s Paul Hirst reports that González wants regular first-team football and is ready to find it away from Manchester.
From emergency signing to trusted stand-in
City turned to González in January 2025, prising him from Porto as an emergency signing at a time when Rodri’s recurring fitness problems left a gaping hole at the base of midfield. It could easily have been a stop-gap deal that drifted into obscurity.
Instead, González imposed himself.
Across the first half of the recent campaign he established a reputation as a reliable deputy, a calm and technically sharp presence who allowed City to keep their structure when Rodri was absent. His performances helped steady a side battling through a difficult 2024–25 season, one that still ended with a third-place Premier League finish and qualification for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League.
Inside the dressing room and around the club, he earned plaudits. On the pitch, he earned trust. For a while.
Guardiola looks elsewhere
When the season tightened and the margins shrank, Guardiola made a different choice.
Rather than lean into González’s progress, the Catalan coach repeatedly turned to Bernardo Silva as a makeshift number six. The move pushed González down the pecking order just as he seemed poised to cement his place.
The shift was brutal. In the final weeks of the campaign, González often slipped out of the matchday squad entirely. The player who had carried part of the load during Rodri’s absences suddenly found himself watching from the stands.
That lack of rhythm and visibility carried a cost beyond club level. González missed out on Spain’s FIFA World Cup squad, a painful marker in any international career and a clear signal of how damaging limited minutes can be at the highest level.
Contract talks for Rodri, crossroads for González
City are now pushing ahead with contract talks for Rodri, the undisputed anchor of their midfield. The message is clear: the long-term number six role belongs to the Ballon d’Or winner.
For González, that reality narrows the pathway. With Rodri set to remain the reference point and with Guardiola having shown a willingness to redeploy senior players in the pivot before turning to him, the Spaniard sees a future of sporadic cameos rather than consistent starts.
Club and player appear aligned on the likely outcome. City are expected to listen to offers this summer, with the midfielder keen to move on to accelerate his career. At 24, with a formative Premier League spell behind him and experience under Guardiola, Rodri and Bernardo Silva, his stock remains strong. The sense is that his best years are still in front of him—just not in sky blue.
Viana’s dilemma and the next number six
The looming managerial change only sharpens the stakes. With Guardiola leaving and talks advancing with Enzo Maresa over the Etihad hot seat, City are braced for a summer of upheaval.
In the middle of it all sits sporting director Hugo Viana, juggling the González situation while plotting the next phase of City’s midfield. Viana is driving the club’s pursuit of Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, viewed as a player who could arrive, learn behind Rodri and eventually grow into City’s long-term number six.
If Anderson comes in and Rodri signs on again, the logic is unforgiving. There is no room for another ambitious holding midfielder who expects to start every week.
That leaves Viana with a clear, if uncomfortable, choice: cash in on González now, while his value is intact, and back the new succession plan. For the player, it opens the door to the one thing Manchester could not ultimately guarantee—being the main man, not the stand-in.
After a year and a half of learning at the Etihad, González’s next move will reveal whether that education turns into the career he believes it can be.
