Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Ederson, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker are all rumored to have left Manchester City in the summer of 2025. Of this group of players, only Walker is playing on loan at AC Milan with a 6-month contract. The English star himself also wanted to stay at San Siro when he implicitly confirmed that he had disagreements with Pep Guardiola.
The 8 names rumored to leave the Etihad this summer are spread across all levels of Man City, from goalkeeper, defender, midfielder to striker. In this group, there are many stars who were the servants of The Citizens under Pep Guardiola, who made a great treble in 2023.
Unless Walker is playing for another team, the remaining 7 players can be divided into 3 groups. The first group could no longer maintain their form and were considered redundant like Jack Grealish. The second group is aging veterans like De Bruyne or Gundogan. The third group that could not boost in terms of ability was Silva, Stones, Kovacic and Ederson. If there is a 4th group, it is a group dedicated to Walker, gathering stars who are no longer popular with Pep.
This rumor appeared not long after Man City spent heavily in the 2025 winter transfer window to welcome 4 new players, also spread across 3 routes. The fact that this rumor came at the time of February explains why Pep Guardiola bought so many in the winter.
If Pep buys many players to strengthen the club when his form is declining, this does not seem convincing. The new recruits who were recently brought to the Etihad are all not very famous stars, especially in a very young case like Khusanov. Did Pep Guardiola have expected a big escape this summer, so there needs to be preparation?
Amid rumors of a series of ministries preparing to leave the team, Pep Guardiola still firmly affirms his determination to stay with Man City. The Spanish strategist shared that he certainly wants to continue his journey with The Citizens. The team's reconstruction strategy has been started since the winter and will continue in the summer.
At this point, whether Man City can safely overcome the storm with 115 allegations of financial violations is something that no one has been able to answer. For players who have won many titles, even reached the peak of their glory with Man City in recent years, that is enough. If there are unfortunate major events, for example, having to play in the Championship, it will be very difficult for these people to go wherever they want because the advantage of negotiating transfers is no longer there.
Among the group of players rumored to be leaving, there were some who did that and then returned. Ilkay Gundogan won the Champions League with Man City in 2023. After that, he played for Barcelona for 1 season and then returned to his old home.
