Pep Guardiola and the role of being a Man City ambassador New York Times (Online) Sam Lee Not long after he left Manchester City at the end of last season, Pep Guardiola was approached by Italy to become the new national team coach, an offer he turned down on the basis he fully intends to take time off from management. Had he plumped for an immediate return to football, though, one issue that would have needed to be resolved was the fact he has a contract with the City Football Group to be a global ambassador. “The role will see him giving technical advice to the clubs in the group, working on specific projects and collaborations,” City said of his new role. In recent weeks, he took centre stage ahead of the Hudson River derby between New York Red Bulls and CFG club New York City, delivering a team talk to the NYCFC players. He also took part in a Q&A with fans, wearing a Puma range designed for him. He has a sponsorship deal with Puma and also appeared at an event at the brand's headquarters. Guardiola joins Joleon Lescott, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Paul Dickov, Pablo Zabaleta and Steph Houghton as ambassadors, although there are many more former players used for different events. Ambassadors are paid for appearing at those events, including overseas trips that can last a couple of days or, in the case of pre-season tours, a couple of weeks. While Guardiola returned to the Etihad Stadium last week for the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain, that was directly linked to the news that the club have been found guilty of breaking Premier League spending rules (which they deny). He wanted to show loyalty to the club and would not have returned so soon in normal circumstances. He had also released a statement beforehand showing his support for his employers, and sources close to him say he has been closely following the developments of recent weeks — probably too closely for somebody who was expected to be splitting his time between a beach and a golf course. There is no doubt among those who know Guardiola that, even had he cut all official ties with the club, his support for the institution would be exactly the same. There has been a spotlight on former City figures in the media after the independent commission's finding that the club broke spending rules. Joe Hart, a former goalkeeper, is not a club ambassador nor has he been used in fan events like some of his old team-mates, but he is a pro-City voice in the media due to his attachment and allegiance to the club, in the same way that many former players are with their different teams. He found himself in a difficult spot when appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live a few days after the news emerged of City's guilt, stressing that he sided with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who had released an open letter to supporters at a time when the football world was rounding on City. “My honest opinion is I've got no reason not to trust Khaldoon,” Hart said. “What he said is enough for me. “I loved how he spoke. I loved the letter because that was from someone who cared about the club.” Hart's bond with City is genuine and gives an insight into how the players were treated during their time there, their interactions with Al Mubarak and how they have been treated since their departures. The situation around the guilty judgment — City have launched an appeal and insist they will be cleared — has serious implications and deserves proper scrutiny, though the tribal nature of football, including with former players, means allegiances will bleed into the debate on all sides. Interestingly, Micah Richards, the former right-back, has been criticised by some City supporters in recent years for not speaking positively enough about the club, and backing his boyhood side Arsenal in the media. “Yes, I liked Arsenal when I was a kid,” Richards explained on the Rest is Football podcast in February. “But when I went to Manchester City, I've been City through and through ever since. “The phrase I used was that I support Man City on air and Arsenal off air — which was said on 'League of Their Own', in a format where we're having fun. And people are actually taking it as gospel, like I don't bleed Man City. It's madness to me.” City have tried to maintain strong bonds with their former players down the years, with a string of notable favourites from previous eras like Paul Lake, Peter Barnes and David White working in matchday hospitality, something common at many clubs. The big stars of the past two decades have been feted upon their departures, with statues for Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and David Silva, as well as one planned for Kevin De Bruyne. Hart, Yaya Toure, Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva are among those to have large mosaics at the training ground, and the road linking the academy building to the first-team building was also renamed Kevin De Bruyne Crescent. There is a WhatsApp group for former players and contacts are maintained to ensure they are still involved in different capacities, with notable examples being Kompany and Fernandinho returning at the end of last season to lift trophies during a farewell event for Guardiola at the Co-Op Live arena. Staying in touch with former players is an extension of the treatment they receive while they are still in active service, something described by Aymeric Laporte in an interview with The Athletic earlier this year . “There are a few people inside that take care like if you were their own children,” he said. “If you need anything about anything, tickets for singers or a house to rent, change the wheels on the car, everything. You need something in your car, you need a taxi to go home, everything, you have everything you need. The proper food you have on the coach. Everything you need. You can sleep in the training ground. This is fantastic, everything you need. The food there is unbelievable, fresh, everything fresh.” The basic idea is that when players leave, they are not suddenly cut off from that kind of environment, even if they no longer receive all the same trappings. City use their ambassadors and other notable former players to help build the fanbase across the world, and provide opportunities for existing supporters across the globe to experience some link to Manchester. Scott Carson, who spent six years at the club between 2019 and 2025, has been used for overseas trips since his retirement last year, including match screenings in Shenzhen, China, and Los Angeles alongside former City defender Nedum Onuoha, who is on the board of trustees for club charity City in the Community. Earlier this month it was confirmed that Zabaleta will join a Q&A panel for City in the Community, while he is also expected to be on in-house media duties afterwards. City ambassadors do not have loyalty to the club because they are ambassadors, they are ambassadors because they are loyal to the club. In Onuoha's case, he grew up in Manchester and supported the club as a child, and went on to play for them. Others, like Zabaleta, develop a bond during their time there. Zabaleta spent nine years at City and became a firm fan favourite. An ambassador's role can include joining the first team's pre-season tours to different parts of the world, where they are put to work at various sponsor events and fan meet and greets, the club's media coverage of training and matches, and are available for interviews. Lescott and Wright-Phillips have been regulars over the years, while Carson has been welcomed into the fold and was with the team in Hong Kong and South Korea during the summer. Former players on these tours can receive low four-figure sums for their work. During the height of the club's success in the Guardiola era, City launched a 'Trophy Tour' that enabled them to host fan events around the world during the season, visiting different cities in different continents to show off what they had won in the previous campaign. These provided opportunities to speak to former players, not always official ambassadors. After City's struggles in 2024-25, when the club failed to win a trophy for the first time since Guardiola's first year in 2016-17, City changed the name to Matchday Live on Tour and continued to travel the world, starting in Seoul in November 2025, offering fans the opportunity to watch a game at an official screening with former players. That trip featured Fabian Delph, part of the team that won the Premier League under Guardiola in 2018 and 2019, and Onuoha, before the trips to Shenzhen and LA with Carson. So far there has been no confirmation of future dates, although the first of last season's events was only announced in November last year, three weeks in advance. Official club events are following the 'business as usual' mantra amid the ongoing Premier League controversy, while former City players in the media are being asked some difficult questions. Their loyalty, even in times of crisis, is probably no surprise.