Preparing

Manchester City are preparing for Pep Guardiola’s exit after Sunday’s Premier League match against Aston Villa.

Sources have told BBC Sport that the managerial great is expected to leave Etihad Stadium at the end of the season.

City maintain Guardiola has a contract for next season and are hopeful he will remain as manager.

However, work towards his anticipated exit is under way at the club, with members of staff of the understanding he will leave.

It is understood members of the squad are also anticipating his departure after the final game of the season againt Villa, while the club have turned their attentions towards how best to mark the tenure of their iconic boss.

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who worked under Guardiola at City, is the front-runner to replace the 55-year-old.

Guardiola has led City to 17 major trophies – and 20 in all – including six Premier League titles, the Champions League, three FA Cups and five EFL Cups during his 10 years at City.

The club’s greatest boss is widely regarded as one of the best managers of all time, and could yet still cap his stellar spell at Etihad Stadium with a seventh Premier League title, having already won the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup this season.

Speculation about the manager’s future has been rife for months, with the question about his tenure at Manchester City often coming up in news conferences.

He was asked on Friday whether the following day’s trip to Wembley for the FA Cup final would be his last visit there. “No way,” he said, reminding reporters he had “one more year” on his contract.

And in a interview with BBC Sport before Saturday’s FA Cup final, when asked if he will still be at the club next season, he replied: “Yeah.”

The ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss added: “I am here, I have a contract.”

A new survey from Booking.com has revealed three in five people going on holiday to Europe are concerned about the long delays from the EU’s new border checks

Three in five UK holidaymakers heading to Europe this year expect to be caught up in delays linked to the European Union’s new entry-exit system (EES).

Figures from a recent survey show that 59% of travellers believe they’ll be held up by the new system and fear they could miss their flights due to the border checks. EES involves people from third-party countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen Area, which consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU.

For most UK travellers, the process is done at foreign airports. A poll commissioned by Booking.com revealed the worrying figures.

The representative body Airports Council International recently reporting that EES was causing delays of up to three hours, with airports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy among the worst affected. Last month more than 100 easyJet passengers missed a flight from Milan Linate to Manchester as the border checks were ramped up at passport desks.

The survey indicated that 56% of UK travellers plan to arrive at airports earlier than usual in an attempt to avoid disruption, with 12% intending to arrive at least four hours before departure. More than half (52%) of respondents who have travelled to the EU since the introduction of EES said they experienced delays during their journey.

Meanwhile 43% said they were not delayed. Families and holidaymakers travelling to Europe during the May half-term break were told to make sure their passports are eligible for their dates and to keep items such as portable phone chargers and medication in their hand luggage.

Ryan Pearson, regional manager for the UK and Ireland at Booking.com, said: “May half-term is a key moment in the travel calendar, and we know many people are feeling anxious about how the new entry-exit system could impact their trip. We want to help travellers feel informed and prepared before they leave, whether that’s checking travel documents in advance or packing the right essentials in hand luggage in case of longer queues.

“Changes to the way we travel can understandably feel daunting, but we’re already seeing that many journeys are running smoothly. The key is preparation.”

Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, reported earlier this month that demand for holidays in Greece has surged since the country revealed on April 17 it will not impose the requirements on UK travellers this summer. The south-eastern European country’s market share of UK holiday bookings rose from 7.7% in mid-April to 9.98% by the end of the month, Advantage Travel Partnership said.

EES was first introduced in October last year, with its roll out ramped up on April 10. EU rules currently allow the checks to be temporarily halted to avoid queues at peak periods.