Inside the glamorous lives of Pep Guardiola’s style powerhouse spouse Cristina Serra and their influencer daughter, as Man City supervisor ‘heads for divorce’

Pep Guardiola and his wife Cristina Serra have reportedly separated after 30 years together.

The couple, who wed in an intimate ceremony on the outskirts of Barcelona in 2014, are said to have made the choice in December but opted to keep the news within their inner circle.

The decision to part ways might not shock the football community, given that the couple, who have three children together – Maria, 24, Marius, 22, and Valentina, 17 – have lived apart for over five years.

Clues of cracks in their relationship surfaced in 2019 when Cristina, a Brazilian journalist and writer, moved to Barcelona to focus on her fashion business while the football boss stayed put in Manchester.

But in years gone by, Cristina provided competition for the likes of Coleen Rooney in securing the title of chief WAG after her fashion prowess made Pep one of the most fashionable men in football.

Influencer Maria will be navigating the change in the spotlight alongside her parents, with her Instagram account boasting over 900,000 followers.

Maria has established herself as one to watch out for in the creative space, not to mention in the world of showbusiness given her famous love interests, including Dele Alli.

Here, Femail explore the glamorous lives of Cristina and Maria, as they grapple with the reports in the public eye.

While Cristina keeps her public appearances to a minimum, she’s become synonymous with her relaxed yet polished style, typically opting for jumpers, jeans, and a leather jacket when off duty.

Cristina’s family run an upmarket boutique called Serra Claret in Barcelona, selling designer labels such as, Marc Jacobs, D Squared, and Armani.

Before her husband’s football career took them abroad to clubs such as Brescia in Italy and Al-Ahli in Qatar, Cristina worked on the shop floor and serving at the till.

Indeed, it was at Serra Claret where the couple first met. An 18-year-old Pep visited the store while modelling for the Spanish designer Antonio Miro before his footballing career took off.

Pep went on to play as a defensive midfielder at Barcelona before moving into management following his retirement. 

Since taking up coaching in 2007, he’s become noted for his touchline outfits ranging from jeans and a rolled-up shirt to expensive tailored suits.

After Pep’s appointment, male style bible GQ declared that the Premier League is the most stylish soccer league in the world, praising his slim cut trousers and love of bright colours.

The piece even gushed that he manages to pull off statement scarves, not to mention lederhosen, which he donned while visiting Oktoberfest in Germany.

Pep and Cristina didn’t get married until May 2014 when they tied the knot in a discreet ceremony in Catalonia attended by their three children and both sets of parents.

One of the few photographs to emerge from the event showed that Cristina opted to wear a red leather jacket and jeans, while her husband was equally casually dressed in a camel-coloured jumper and dark trousers.

While in Manchester, Cristina was seen scouting out the renowned St Bede’s College in Manchester for their children.

However, Cristina and Pep rarely put on displays of their wealth, both preferring to fly under the radar.

Elsewhere, Cristina has been a supportive presence throughout Pep’s career, particularly when he was accused of doping in 2001 after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone.

Despite protesting his innocence, saying the substance was in his blood because he’d taken contaminated supplements, Pep received a four-month ban from football. He was later cleared of all charges in 2007.

Cristina gave a statement defending her husband – the first and only time she has ever spoken to the media.

Taking after her mother with her excellent sense of style is the couple’s oldest daughter, Maria.

After completing her A Level’s at St Bedes, the 24-year-old graduated with a BA in Fashion Business Degree at Istituto Marangoni London in 2023.

She is no stranger to work and took roles as a sales assistant at her mother’s shop before interning at Victoria Beckham, working on the sales team at Helmut Lang, and acting as a retail and licensing coordinator at Manchester City.

Maria is no stranger to wearing high fashion either, and provides outfit inspiration for her thousands of followers while sporting luxury goods from the likes of Miu Miu and Bottega Veneta.

It’s not just her exceptionally curated Instagram feed, featuring pictures from glamorous events like Wimbledon or at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium that’s created a buzz around Maria, but also her relationships.

Maria grabbed headlines during a short-lived relationship with then-Tottenham star Dele Alli.

The pair were rumoured to be seeing each other after an onlooker spotted them together in a London bar in 2022, claiming they ‘kissed in front of a DJ booth at Cloud 9 bar’.

Alli had not long been out of a five-year relationship with model Ruby Mae at the time.

At the time, Maria was said to have told friends that she is ‘just friends’ with Dele despite their reported kiss. After months of speculation the pair were spotted again, this time leaving a London restaurant.

However, everything appeared to go south when Alli was pictured on a date with Made in Chelsea star Nicole Berry.

Not long after, Alli began a relationship with Cindy Kimberly. The couple recently showed off their matching ring tattoos. 

As for Maria, she was spotted in a cosy conversation with English singer Conor Maynard in February.

Images showed the pair outside London’s Chiltern Firehouse, taking a break from the party and headed outside the swanky venue for a cigarette. 

Conor, who cut a trendy figure in printed jeans and denim jacket, wrapped his arms around Maria and kissed her on the cheek. 

Elsewhere, Maria supports a string of worthy causes through her platform and offers a link to The Guardiolo Sala Foundation in her Instagram bio, a non-profit organisation aiming to integrate vulnerable people into society. 

‘I am immensely proud of the launch (July 2021) of my family’s charitable organisation The Guardiola Sala Foundation in which I am an ambassador of,’ she wrote on LinkedIn.

She added: ‘Our aim is to join forces with other organisations all around the world in order to tackle some of the biggest issues today, bring our grain of sand to the causes that reverberate with us the most.’