When Manchester City fans displayed a banner at Etihad Stadium on Saturday pleading for their adored manager Pep Guardiola to stay, they probably weren't aware his close friend, ally and director of football Txiki Begiristain would be leaving the club this summer.

Guardiola's contract expires at the end of this season, with no indication from the club or the Catalan as to whether he will sign an extension.

On Tuesday, BBC Sport reported Begiristain is set to leave City after this campaign, with the 60-year-old being praised many times by Guardiola for his work on recruitment.

Guardiola, who joined City in 2016 on a three-year deal, extended his City contract in May 2018, November 2020 and again in November 2022.

“One of the reasons I extended my contract two times is because Txiki is here,” Guardiola said in 2021.

“We work together incredibly well. When we win, we try to analyse why. When we lose we try to analyse why. We don’t judge the other one. We both work for the best for this club.

"That’s why it’s a joy to work here with people like Txiki."

Begiristain joined City in 2012, and played a key role in bringing his former Barcelona team-mate and colleague Guardiola to Manchester.

Since then Guardiola has led City to 18 trophies, including six Premier League titles and a first Champions League triumph in 2022-23.

In July, Guardiola said he wanted to wait until the season was under way to "look at how everything is going and how connected we are" before making a decision on his future.

And asked about the fans banner last week, Guardiola's latest answer to media questions about any decision on his future was: "When it's going to happen, it's going to happen."

Guardiola, 53, and Begiristain, 60, have a long association, having played alongside each other for Barcelona and Spain.

Begiristain became director of football at Barcelona in 2003 and was influential in Guardiola being named the Spanish giants' manager in 2008.

“When nobody else would take a risk on me, when maybe three per cent of the people at Barca believed in me, he was the one who insisted on my appointment to the first team," Guardiola said previously., external

“None of this would have been possible without him.”

It is why Begiristain’s exit could be seen as the start of the break-up of the Catalan inspired success at City, which includes chief executive Ferran Soriano, who also used to work at Barcelona.

Begiristain left Barcelona in 2010 and took up the director of football role at Manchester City two years later, before being reunited with Guardiola in 2016.

Speaking in 2021 about Begiristain, Guardiola said of their relationship: "He is the most humble person I ever met. He never goes to the media. Always, the success is for the other ones. He is always behind the scenes.

“You don’t find these type of people in this world because their egos are always so high - and I put myself as an example [of that].

“He always gives the credit to the players, to the manager, for the chairman, and the chief executive.

“That’s why it’s a pleasure working with him because I can do my job completely free, accepting the good moments and the bad moments and sharing together.

“In the bad moments we are closer than ever and in good moments we celebrate together with a glass of wine."

At this stage, no-one knows if Guardiola is extending his nine-year stay beyond this season, quite possibly not even the man himself.

Guardiola signed his third contract extension in 2022 but that is due to expire on 30 June 2025 - before the season-ending Club World Cup is due to finish.

He has been regularly asked about his future plans and, after guiding City to their fourth successive league title in May, he cast doubt over a new deal by suggesting he might not have the motivation to continue.

"I have a contract and I start to think ‘no-one has done four in a row, why don't we try?’ And now it’s done, so what next?" he said following that latest league title win.

“Now I don't know what exactly the motivation is because it's difficult to find it when everything is done.”

However on a pre-season tour of the United States Guardiola clarified that he never said he was going.

Begiristain has also been credited, external with playing a key role in bringing Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, and Ederson to the club.

BBC columnist Guillem Balague said that people close to Begiristain "have known things would be over at some point soon" and that he had considered leaving before.

Ballague said that Begiristain "feels for him it is the end of an era and it requires new impetus and new people" and is a separate decision to that of Guardiola's future.

Begiristain has been part of the decision-making process around his replacement as director of football, Balague added.