'Something broken with him' - Pep Guardiola's shock split from wife Cristina Serra has had 'big impact' on Man City playing standards this season, suggests ex-Premier League star

City are on course to have their worst season in years, something that had coincided with Guardiola's separation from Serra after 30 years together. Now, ex-Arsenal star Petit has hypothesised that "something has broken" with the City boss and that has had a negative knock-on effect on his players this term.

The former Chelsea man told pokerfirma.com: "Something has been broken with him. I don't want to talk about his private matters, but I think what happened outside the pitch, maybe had a big impact on him. Maybe the players saw that. I'm not there at the Manchester City training ground, but when you look at this team, they are not the same team from the last few years. We're talking about guys that just won the Premier League, and we're talking about a team and a manager that's supposed to play at the highest standards domestically and in Europe, but we haven’t seen it. The way they’ve fallen apart at the same time has been shocking to watch. They’ve lost so many games."

City have won four straight Premier League titles but this season they are languishing in fifth, are out of the Champions League, didn't win the Carabao Cup, and their only hope of silverware lies with the FA Cup. Splitting from his wife would have been a big upheaval for Guardiola, and perhaps it has affected his side's results on the pitch.

City return to Premier League action on Wednesday night when they host lowly Leicester City at the Etihad. Guardiola's side will then look ahead to a derby clash with Manchester United this weekend.