Pep Guardiola's apprentices are taking over! What the Man City boss's assistants did next as Enzo Maresca becomes Chelsea manager

Arteta had been out of football barely a month after retiring as a player when Guardiola hired him as one of his three assistants as soon as he took over at City in 2016. Guardiola valued Arteta's inside knowledge of the Premier League and said his wisdom made him a better coach.

Many believed Guardiola was moulding Arteta as his successor at City but his assistant could not resist the offer to take over at Arsenal, where he had ended his playing career, when they approached him in December 2019.

The wisdom Arteta learned from Guardiola went on to burn him only a few months later as Arsenal beat City 2-0 in the 2020 FA Cup semi-finals. After a couple of disappointing campaigns, Arteta oversaw Arsenal's resurgence and they became City's unlikely title rivals last season, leading the Premier League for the majority of the campaign until their title bid came off the rails in April.

Arsenal built on that disappointment by becoming an even tougher side but still could not topple City, who beat them to the title by just two points on the final day of the season. But Guardiola knows that Arsenal are not going anywhere and he can expect another close contest next season from his former No. 2.

After a long career as a journeyman midfielder which bizarrely began with West Bromwich Albion, the Italian moved into coaching, working as Jorge Sampaoli's assistant at Sevilla.

He later became head coach of City's reserve team and after an unsuccessful stint at Parma back in Italy, he returned to Manchester in 2022 as Guardiola's assistant, helping the Catalan lead City to the Champions League for the first time while also becoming the first English side in 24 years to win the treble.

Maresca's work at City led to him being appointed as Leicester boss after the Foxes were relegated and he led them straight back up, while finishing top of the Championship. He is the fourth boss Chelsea have hired in 21 months and has a huge task in getting the Blues back into the Champions League after predecessors Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino failed to get a tune out of their expensively assembled squad.

Although he never coached alongside Guardiola, the Belgian centre-back was the Catalan's captain for his first three seasons, his eyes and ears on the pitch as City swept to back-to-back titles, first achieving a record 100 points in 2017-18 and then earning 98 in the 2018-19 campaign, pipping Liverpool to the post while also winning both domestic cups.

Guardiola has cheered Kompany on since he retired from playing and moved into coaching, first with Anderlecht. He has endorsed him taking over at Bayern despite presiding over Burnley's relegation from the Premier League. And don't be surprised if Kompany's next move is to follow in Guardiola's footsteps by moving from Bayern to the Etihad Stadium.

Despite not being a successful coach, Guardiola idolised Lillo and went to play in Mexico for Dorados Sinaloa at the tail end of his career just so he could learn under him. He finally brought him in as his assistant at City in 2020 although he only stayed with the club for two years, leaving just after winning the Premier League title to return to head coaching in Qatar with Al Sadd.

But Guardiola remained in touch with the Basque and last year he arranged for him to visit him in Manchester to help him devise a plan for the Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid. His advice sure paid off, with City monstering Madrid 4-0 in the second leg. He also consulted for the final against Inter.

And seeing that his input had been so valuable, he hired him once more as his assistant last year to succeed the departing Maresca. Lillo even had to fill in for Guardiola and be City's main man in the dugout for the matches against Sheffield United and Fulham while the Catalan was recovering from back surgery.

Vilanova was Guardiola's first assistant, going all the way back to his first year in coaching in charge of Barcelona's reserve side. Vilanova had deep knowledge of Barca's young players after previously working at the academy - he was said to be Lionel Messi's favourite youth coach - and it was on his recommendation that the club signed Gerard Pique from Manchester United in 2008.

The pair won almost everything in their four years at Barcelona and Guardiola expected Vilanova to continue to be his assistant at his next club. But they fell out after Vilanova opted to take over as head coach when Guardiola left the club in 2012.

Barca reclaimed the La Liga title under Vilanova while collecting a joint-record 100 points but he missed chunks of the campaign to undergo treatment for throat cancer. The disease prevented him from staying in charge beyond the season and he died in April 2014. Guardiola was barred from attending the funeral by his wife.

Estiarte's background stands out compared to Guardiola's other assistants - before joining him at Barca in 2008 he had never previously worked in football. But he is regarded as one of the best water polo players of all time and was an Olympic gold medalist with Spain in 1996.

And he is one of Guardiola's most trusted advisors, following him to Bayern and then City, where he remains. "Manel has an unerring instinct. He knows immediately if things are going well or not," the coach said in the book Pep Confidential by Marti Perarnau. "He is quick to sense the slightest change in atmosphere and can tell me with absolute certainty whether or not the players are behind us."

Kidd, who scored for Manchester United in the 1968 European Cup final and was Alex Ferguson's long-running assistant, had already been at City - who he also played for - for seven years when Guardiola arrived.

Despite bringing in a number of his own, largely Spanish-speaking staff, Guardiola kept Kidd on board due to his extensive knowledge and experience at the club. And they worked together for five years until Kidd retired in 2021 aged 72. The Catalan brought Kidd into his press conference after winning the Carabao Cup against Tottenham and called his assistant "a legend of this country".

Borrell spent more than a decade as a youth coach at Barcelona, overseeing the development of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. He briefly worked alongside Guardiola before heading to Liverpool for a job in their academy, switching to City's youth system in 2014.

When Guardiola took over two years later he became part of his backroom staff before becoming his assistant in the 2021-22 season. When Guardiola tested positive for coronavirus before City's FA Cup fourth round tie at Swindon, Borrell took charge in his absence. Like Maresca, Borrell left City after the treble triumph, taking up the role of sporting director at MLS side FC Austin.

Torrent also began working with Guardiola at Barca B in 2007 and followed the Catalan to Bayern and then City as an assistant. After 11 years as a No. 2 he became head coach at sister club New York City in 2018.

He took over Brazilian giants Flamengo in 2020 but was sacked just four months later and he had a similarly disappointing and short-lived tenure in charge of Galatasaray, being dismissed after the team finished an unthinkable 13th in the Turkish Super Lig last year. He is currently managing in Mexico with Atletico San Luis.

Like many of Guardiola's assistants, Vicens cut his teeth as a coach in youth football, joining City's academy one year after the Catalan in 2017. He was promoted to head coach of the Under-18 side in 2020 and led the team to win the FA Youth Cup.

His success with the youngsters saw him promoted to Guardiola's inner circle as an assistant coach in 2021, where he has remained since. And he has been credited with improving City's ruthlessness from set-pieces, with Guardiola name-checking him and fellow coach Jack Wilson after the goals against Burnley and Liverpool this season.