Reasons behind Pep Guardiola’s marriage ending are revealed by close friend, as Man City manager steps out still wearing his wedding ring following split from wife Cristina after 30 years

Pep Guardiola‘s marriage ended because ‘he is a total workaholic’ and it ‘took a toll’ on his relationship, a close friend of the Manchester City boss has told MailOnline.

Pep has split from his fashion designer wife Cristina Serra after being together for three decades, it was revealed on Monday night – with no reason for the separation being given.

But now one friend close to Pep, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I think they have grown apart. She left Manchester about five years ago to return to Barcelona. That has taken its toll.

‘He is a total workaholic and not being involved in their family fashion business together may have affected their relationship too.’

Cristina moved back to Barcelona in 2019 with their youngest daughter Valentina, now 17, so she could help run her family’s designer clothes boutique.

Despite the 860 miles between Manchester and the Catalan capital, their relationship appeared to the public eye to remain on good terms.

The pair were often pictured together enjoying a dinner out together or with their three children.

Yet the long-distance now appears to have taken its toll coinciding with the worst run in Peps’ golden career after a record four straight Premier League titles and a historic Champions League win.

Man City fans expressed concern about their manager after he had a number of outbursts including a joke about self harming and several furious rows with fans on and off the pitch.

Batting off any allegations of infidelity the source added: ‘They have parted on friendly terms and I really don’t think there is someone else involved.’

Earlier on Tuesday he was seen for the first time since news broke of his separation from his wife.

The reigning Premier League champions arrived in London ahead of their clash against Brentford on Tuesday night.

Guardiola was seen wearing his wedding ring amid reports from Spain of his split from Serra. 

Observers are asking if his relationship troubles could be behind the strange outbursts including a joke about self harming and several furious rows with fans on and off the pitch.

Manchester City’s form has nosedived and now it has emerged that he and his wife have reportedly split up having lived in different countries for five years.

Until this season this 860 mile separation – Pep in Manchester and his Cristina in Barcelona with their three children – coincided with a golden age for City and its boss.

But on Monday night it emerged that Mr and Mrs Guardiola have reportedly decided to end their marriage, although friends have said it is ‘friendly and cordial’ and they spent Christmas together with their children Maria, 24, Marius, 22, and Valentina, 17.

In recent months City went on the worst run in their manager’s golden career after a record four straight Premier League titles and a historic Champions League win.

Off the pitch Pep has been involved in a series of spats off with football fans who have upset him by asking him for autographs or goaded him after defeats. There has also been problems with players, including Kyle Walker’s love life drama and speculation about the future of players such as Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne.

There were also worrying comments about self-harm after he admitted scratching his own head and face until it bled during the final moments of City’s collapse against Feyenoord in November. He also spoke of the loneliness of football management as City slumped to sixth in the league with six losses, including four in a row.

Guardiola’s assessment may have taken on greater significance amid reports in Spain emerged on Monday that he has separated from his wife Cristina Serra after 30 years. They met when they were 18, in 1994, and married in 2014.

And while his place as one of football’s greatest coaches is undisputed, despite a poor start to this season, the grief of splitting with his wife, his childhood sweetheart, will also have been causing him more pain.

Guardiola and Serra, a Brazilian journalist and writer, had remained a couple despite not living in the same city and have regularly been pictured together in the years since. 

Serra was in Istanbul in June 2023 to congratulate her husband after City beat Inter Milan in the final of the Champions League to seal a famous Treble.

They were also pictured together attending Wimbledon at the All England Club in July.

Guardiola had often spoken publicly about his wife. In January 2024, he said: ‘My wife is the best in the world at many things, especially fashion.

‘She says normally to me, don’t wear this or wear that, so I follow. I’m smart enough to know when people are much better than me, follow their advice.’

Serra decided to leave Manchester in 2019 to help oversee the fashion company owned by her family, Serra Claret, which stocks several brands the City manager is often seen wearing. Guardiola also makes regular trips back to Spain to see his wife and their children.

Guardiola and Serra met while the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss was modelling for designer Antonio Miro in the shop in the Spanish city.

They began a long-distance relationship when Guardiola was a footballer, before they bought a home together in Barcelona. The couple later moved to Germany when Guardiola was manager of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

In May 2023, Guardiola said: ‘When I have five days [off] for example, yes [I can switch off from football].

‘I went to Barcelona [after Real Madrid] for example to see my wife, my little daughter. That helps me. But with every three days, there’s no chance.’

Guardiola cut a frustrated figure as he spoke to the media ahead of Man City’s trip to Brentford on Tuesday.

The Spaniard appeared visibly irritated as he was asked about Kyle Walker – who stunned the club by telling them he wants to leave – and City’s January transfer targets.

Guardiola has clearly been showing the strain as he appeared to scratch his own face in the dugout during the Champions League clash with Feyenoord. As his team surrendered a three-nil lead, he was seen on the touchline clawing at his head and was later pictured with red marks on his face.

The City boss later joked it the marks were because he ‘wanted to hurt himself’.

Guardiola enjoyed a successful spell with Barcelona between 2008, turning his side into one of the best in Europe. He later moved to Bayern before taking the City job in 2016, leading the club to he Treble in 2023.

The Spaniard, who also had a stellar playing career, then led City to an unprecedented fourth Premier League title in a row last season.

Guardiola ended speculation over his future with City in November by signing a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the Etihad until 2027.

City are enduring a poor campaign by their standards. The champions are at risk of failing to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League and sit sixth in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.