A newly released Amazon Prime documentary chronicling Pep Guardiola's last two seasons at Manchester City has exposed the depth of the fallout between the manager and former captain Kyle Walker, alongside a candid portrait of a club in crisis after years of dominance.
The series, titled A Beautiful Obsession and directed by Kevin Macdonald, captures Guardiola addressing his squad just days after Walker's January 2025 departure to AC Milan on loan. "So sad, what happened with Kyle," Guardiola tells his players ahead of a home fixture against Chelsea. "It was so easy for him to come to me and say 'I'm tired'. But you cannot behave as a captain the way he has done it. You cannot, in the toughest moments of our lives."
The tension between the pair is traced back further in the footage, notably to a heated exchange following City's December 2024 defeat at Anfield, where Walker was blamed for losing possession to Luis Diaz in the buildup to a penalty. Guardiola tells his dressing room, "Kyle has to know that if you lose the ball it's a goal," prompting a sharp response from Walker: "You keep saying my name, every meeting in every f****** thing. Every f****** meeting, it's my name." When Guardiola suggests this comes with the territory of captaincy, Walker fires back, "OK. You didn't want me to be your captain."
The rift reportedly deepened further during the Manchester derby that followed, when a ball played over the City defence — despite Guardiola's half-time warning to Walker — led to Amad Diallo's winner for United. Walker made only three more appearances before exiting the club he had served since 2017, having made 316 appearances and won six Premier League titles.
Beyond the Walker saga, the documentary reveals a club and manager under immense strain. City endured a run of nine defeats in twelve matches during an autumn collapse, ultimately finishing the 2024-25 campaign without a trophy for the first time since Guardiola's second season in charge. In one raw moment, an emotional Guardiola tells his players: "If I'm a problem, then you have to tell me. I won't stay here just for the money... I don't want to feel that I'm leaving and running away from you."
Guardiola's personal life was similarly turbulent, as he navigated a divorce amid the sporting downturn. Long-serving staff member Manel Estiarte recalls having to explain the manager's state to concerned players: "He was sad. He was different... you're seeing a human being. He's getting a divorce." Guardiola himself later referenced his marriage in a team talk following a Champions League defeat to Juventus.
The documentary also shows City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak reflecting on how close Guardiola came to walking away, even after signing a contract extension in November 2024. "You know the boy that cried wolf? He is the boy that cried wolf," Al Mubarak says. "I always convince him, but last year, I knew, this time he actually saw the wolf." Former director of football Txiki Begiristain suggested Guardiola needed to discover life beyond football to avoid repeating the same cycle.
The emotional toll of rebuilding the squad is also explored, particularly the departure of Kevin De Bruyne after a decade at the club. "It kills me," Guardiola admits, recalling De Bruyne breaking down in his office. Chief executive Ferran Soriano notes that the Belgian "really doesn't want to go." His replacement, Rayan Cherki, arrived for £30million despite internal doubts — sporting director Hugo Viana admitted, "The information on Cherki was not so positive... there was this idea that he was chaotic." Cherki went on to register four goals and 12 assists in his debut Premier League season.
Guardiola ultimately stepped down at the end of the 2025-26 season after a decade at the Etihad that yielded 20 trophies, including a domestic cup double in his farewell campaign. Reflecting on his future, he said: "I don't know even myself what I am going to do. It will be difficult to come back. I need to refresh many things that happened in my personal life."
Based on reporting from BBC Sport and The Independent.