Salah and Guardiola Gone: Liverpool, Man City Enter Uncertain New Premier League Era

The Premier League has entered a new chapter, with Liverpool and Manchester City preparing for life without two men who became synonymous with their success: Mohamed Salah and Pep Guardiola.

Liverpool will begin their first season without Salah since 2016, while City are entering their first campaign without Guardiola after the Spaniard ended his hugely successful reign at the club.

Salah completed his move to Turkish club Trabzonspor earlier in August, bringing an end to a Liverpool career in which he established himself among the club’s greatest-ever players.

Guardiola resigned at the conclusion of last season, closing a remarkable decade at City that transformed the club into one of Europe’s leading powers.

The timing of the departures has added to the uncertainty.

City will face Bournemouth on Sunday in Enzo Maresca’s first league match as Guardiola’s replacement. Later that day, Andoni Iraola will lead Liverpool into their meeting with Newcastle without the Egyptian forward who had been central to the club’s attack for years.

Guardiola leaves a giant legacy

Since arriving at Manchester City in 2016, Guardiola won six Premier League titles and the club’s first Champions League trophy as part of a haul of 20 major trophies.

He also won the FA Cup and League Cup in his final season.

But City’s dominance had begun to fade before his departure. They failed to win the league in each of Guardiola’s final two seasons, with Arsenal finishing seven points ahead of them last term.

Guardiola acknowledged that he had struggled to summon the energy needed to lead another title challenge.

His difficult final period was compounded by the departure of director of football Txiki Begiristain in 2025.

“A part of me is leaving,” Guardiola said.

City were also dealing with the unresolved Football Association case involving alleged financial breaches, adding another layer of uncertainty around the club.

At the same time, Guardiola was overseeing a major squad rebuild following the departures of established stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez.

Maresca inherits a huge challenge

Maresca knows the City setup, having worked as Guardiola’s assistant during the 2022-23 treble-winning campaign.

But following Guardiola is an enormous task.

The 46-year-old’s managerial record is comparatively limited, having spent less than two seasons at Chelsea, one season with Leicester in the second tier and a short spell at Parma.

That experience is a sharp contrast with Guardiola’s trophy-laden career at Barcelona and Bayern Munich before he arrived in Manchester.

City’s expensive rebuilding programme has also yet to fully deliver, meaning Maresca must quickly establish his own methods while trying to maintain the standards of the Guardiola era.

Liverpool lose their attacking symbol

Liverpool face a similarly daunting transition.

When Salah moved from Roma to Liverpool for £36 million in 2017, few could have predicted the scale of his impact.

After struggling during his earlier spell at Chelsea, Salah immediately flourished at Anfield.

The 34-year-old leaves with 257 goals from 442 appearances in all competitions, making him Liverpool’s third-highest scorer.

His trophy collection includes two Premier League titles, the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.

But his departure followed a difficult final season.

He was dropped several times by Arne Slot and accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus”.

Their relationship never fully recovered, and Salah scored only seven league goals as Liverpool finished fifth before Slot was sacked.

Liverpool cannot simply replace Salah

Iraola now faces the difficult task of rebuilding an attack that revolved around one of the Premier League’s most influential players.

Sweden striker Alexander Isak will be expected to improve after an injury-disrupted first season at Anfield, while Victor Munoz and teenage forward Rio Ngumoha are among those carrying hopes of filling the void.

But Salah’s influence cannot realistically be replaced by one player.

The same applies to Guardiola at City.

Both clubs must now prove that their success was not entirely dependent on the figures who defined their previous eras.

Liverpool and Manchester City have entered a new age. Whether that transition becomes a successful rebuild or the beginning of a decline will be one of the biggest stories of the new Premier League season.

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