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There is a sense of finality radiating from Manchester City this season as they head towards a huge 2025.

Opposition clubs' fans have pointed towards City's impending verdict on the Financial Fair Play (FFP) charges as evidence that Pep Guardiola will choose to depart at the end of the season when his contract expires. However, in actuality, a potential guilty verdict is unlikely to be a huge driving factor - remember the Catalonian argued that he was more likely to stay at the Etihad Stadium if the Blues were to be expelled to League Two.

It is actually more conceivable that Guardiola is contemplating departing due to other factors. His old adversary, Jurgen Klopp, leaving Liverpool would likely have been a bolt of realisation for the City boss that nothing lasts forever.

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Meanwhile, he has now managed to achieve everything he set out to do at the Etihad Stadium. The Champions League and Club World Cup are in the bag as is the record for the number of consecutive top flight title wins.

Now, it appears one of his biggest confidants is on his way out too. Txiki Begiristain's tenure precedes Guardiola's time at the Etihad Stadium, but the sporting director is set to exit in the summer after delaying his departure five years ago to stay with the City boss.

In January, many thought it was ominous when Omar Berrada decided to jump ship to Old Trafford. However, Guardiola was calm and insisted that his true MVP was actually still in the building.

"If you take a look at the clubs who have success, they have had the same sporting director or hierarchy for a long time," he told a press conference. "Building something takes time.

"If they believe in the sporting director and the manager and the manager with the players, you know exactly what you have to do. Txiki has been massively important at this club.

"He was here before I arrived and was stable in the club. He has been really important in these years and part of the enormous success we’ve had in terms of results and many things, he has been so important.

"I do ask him to take responsibility with the media, talk a bit, but he’s so shy. He wants to be behind the scenes so all the shots and the weapons are directed to me but it was the same in Barcelona.

"He's a close friend and we’ve known each other 25 or 30 years. He’s calm and that balance helps us work perfectly together."

Guardiola and Begiristain's work together at the Etihad Stadium is intertwined and the question now is whether the former is happy to continue his job without the latter, should the former Barcelona winger decide to leave. With so much having already been achieved, it is difficult to see the Catalonian manager having the appetite to carry on the challenge without his right-hand man.

Assistants, CEOs, players have all changed but Begiristain has been the one constant. That's why his exit could be the deciding factor for Guardiola come the end of the season.