Manchester City and Pep Guardiola lose first-team analyst to Premier League rival

Manchester City first-team analyst Jack Wilson has left the Etihad Stadium to take up a coaching role at fellow Premier League side Wolves.

Pep Guardiola’s side returned to the City Football Academy this week to begin preparations for the new campaign, with Manchester City scheduled to travel to the United States for a four-match tour ahead the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium next month.

The Sky Blues will face Celtic, AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea in America, with Manchester City planning to embark on a record-breaking 2024/25 season, which will involve competing in the expanded UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup.

Despite the increased number of matches, Manchester City have made few changes to their first-team squad ahead of the new season to date, with 2004-born winger Savio expected to sign from fellow City Football Group side ES Troyes and Sergio Gomez having left for Real Sociedad.

City Football Academy pair Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Liam Delap have also completed permanent exits from the Etihad Stadium, meanwhile both Ederson and Stefan Ortega are set to remain at the club despite exit rumours.

Guardiola’s first-team coaching staff has also remained relevantly unchanged, with the 53-year-old having seen both Enzo Maresca and Rodolfo Borrell leave last summer to take up jobs at Leicester City and Austin FC respectively.

Manchester City will start their campaign against a Maresca side, with the Italian coach having been named as the new Chelsea manager, replacing Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.

Guardiola has suffered one exit from his backroom coaching staff this summer however, with the Training Ground Guru reporting that Jack Wilson has left his role as a set-piece analyst at the Etihad Stadium to become Wolves’ first dedicated set-piece coach.

Wilson, who has been at Manchester City since November 2022, has previously worked for Brentford, Hearts, Dundee United and the Irish FA.

Speaking about the appointment, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil said: “I’m delighted to be able to take him from Manchester City and he’ll be a huge asset to us.

“The fact we got him in early, for the whole of pre-season, is important for the boys because we’ve started to do a little bit of work and it will start to stand us in good stead for the season.

“Set plays are a huge part of the game now and the numbers we managed to achieve on them last year were good, but I was fortunate enough to meet Jack and look through some of his work. I don’t meet too many people who go into as much detail on gameplans as I do, but Jack is one of the closest I’ve ever met to being as extreme in his detail.

“He’s got some really interesting ideas around set plays and how things should be done. Last year, as a coaching team, you work hard on set plays, but you all have other roles and jobs you need to fulfil at the same time, but Jack’s focus can be purely on set plays. His purpose is to make Wolves better at set plays and he can knuckle down and get into the details, and the players have responded well.

“If you stand still for a moment in football, you get left behind quickly because it’s moving on tactically. People are trying to gain small margins and it’s important we do what we think we need to do. It’s a fantastic one for the club to get done.”