Pep Guardiola's wife has ended their 30-year relationship after the Manchester City manager 'put football before their relationship' by signing a two-year contract extension that would have kept him in Britain until 2027, according to reports it was claimed today.
Fashion entrepreneur Cristina Serra, who returned to Barcelona from Manchester in 2019 to focus on her business interests but still regularly visited the 53-year-old father of three in his adopted city, decided 'enough was enough' after she heard he… – reversed the decision to leave Britain and would remain in his current job until 2027.
The explosive allegations were made on Wednesday afternoon by Lorena Vazquez and fellow Spanish journalist Laura Fa, who form a duo of respected showbiz reporters called the Mamarazzis, and broke up the story of the couple's breakup earlier this week.
Pep's previous City deal was due to expire at the end of the season, but he agreed a two-year extension in November.
He said at the time that he could not leave the club after suffering four consecutive defeats for the first time in his coaching career.
Lorena said this afternoon on Mamarazzi's weekly podcast broadcast: 'After Cristina returned to Barcelona from Manchester in 2019 to focus on her business interests, the first rumors about her marriage to Pep have indeed surfaced, but no one dared to talk about it there is a relationship crisis and much less a breakup.
That was until last September, when those in Pep's professional circle in Manchester first became puzzled when they stopped seeing Cristina in town after the summer holidays and began to wonder why she wasn't in Manchester with him.
'It was normal until then to see Cristina occasionally in Manchester, despite the fact that she no longer lived there full-time in 2019 and mainly divided her time between Barcelona and London.
“They continued to see each other and be involved in family activities, and they remained a couple when they met.
'Last September, Cristina stopped appearing in Manchester.'
After her colleague said that the couple's close circle started talking openly about a breakup because there was “such a big distance between them” in October, Lorena added: “One of the things that Cristina Pep is to blame for was that he was too focused on his professional project. and she saw that he was too involved in what was, shall we say, the football universe, and perhaps she felt the need to move her life to another place.
'So what happens? Despite the fact that in December they decide to travel to Barcelona and spend Christmas together with their children, at that moment the decision to separate is made and it is Cristina who makes the decision.'
Laura further emphasized that it was Cristina and not Pep who decided to end their relationship, saying: 'She will make the decision when he decides to extend his contract with Manchester City because Pep had been preparing his contract in recent months. leave the club.
“We know that one of his objectives was to leave and move to the United Arab Emirates.
'People around him started saying goodbye to him because he didn't want to renew contact.
'That decision not to renew helped him get closer to his wife, but when he decided to stay and renew his contract, Cristina decided it was enough and it was she who decided to end the marriage that had lasted for so many years had lasted.'
She said they had spoken to Pep and Cristina's circle of friends, as well as people professionally linked to the football boss, adding: “All the people we have spoken to talk about Pep being obsessed with football and that this comes before everything, and here it is over before his marriage and that has cost him a lot.'
Lorena continued: 'Pep's environment was the first to be surprised by the realization of the contract extension and Pep signing it, and they knew then that this renovation would lead to Cristina deciding that her sentimental relationship with her husband had to change.
“Let's just say that instead of coming to a final conclusion, this could be a rift, as the couple's close circle is talking about the possibility of a reconciliation sometime in the future.
'They tell us that although it is Cristina who left Manchester and made this decision, they have not ruled out the possibility that one day, somewhere far away, when Pep has left football and perhaps returns to Barcelona, will start their new career again. relation.
'We have spoken not only to friends, but also to Pep's professional circle and what they want to make clear is that it is an amicable split, that it has been carefully considered, without arguments and that there are no third people.
“We can't say for sure that there is no one else, but what is true is that people close to them say there is no infidelity and there are no third people.
“We can't say if the divorce papers have been signed, but we can say the possibility of divorce is on the table.”
Earlier today it emerged that Pep's eldest daughter Maria had opened up to her parents' lessons on love after becoming the first family member to speak out since the shock news of their divorce.
The beautiful influencer and fashionista said in an interview in a Spanish magazine published around the same time her father's split with his wife of 30 years came to light: 'My parents always advised me to find what I am passionate about am.
“They encourage me to try new things, accept failure and keep searching until I find my calling, because when I do, full dedication will come naturally.
“They also remind me that the most important thing in life is to love and be loved.”
The 24-year-old beauty from London then told Vanity Fair Spain: 'In the end, it all comes down to feeling loved.
'Even in situations where we feel out of place, they tell me to listen carefully to others. There is always something valuable to learn from every person we meet.”
Maria, whose siblings are Marius, 22, and Valentina, 17, is believed to have been interviewed after her parents made the decision to end their three-decade relationship but before news of the divorce became public.
It was not immediately clear this morning when exactly she had spoken to the magazine.
Guardiola will have spent 11 years at City when his new term ends. He is already the longest-serving manager in the Premier League and the second-longest manager in all four divisions.
Shortly after signing his contract extension, he said: “Honestly, I think I, my staff and friends, deserve to be here. I'm sorry to say. I'm not arrogant to say it, but it's the truth.
'I think after four defeats in a row we deserve to come back and try to turn the situation around. At that moment, in that period, I had the feeling that you have to make the right decisions for the future and I want to make them.
'Manchester City means so much to me. This is my ninth season here – we've had so many great times together. I have a very special feeling for this football club. That's why I'm so happy that I'm staying for two more seasons.'
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