The 2023–24 season was the 129th season in the existence of Manchester City Football Club and their 22nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football, where they were competing as three-time defending champions. As reigning continental treble winners, Manchester City participated in seven competitions this season, namely the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, FA Community Shield, UEFA Champions League; entering the latter for the 13th consecutive season and as defending champions for the first time; UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup; also making their debut in the latter two tournaments.
City kicked off their unprecedented season on 6 August 2023 by losing the Community Shield for the third consecutive year, this time to Arsenal. They drew 1–1 in normal time, having conceded an equaliser in the 11th minute of injury time and lost the subsequent penalty shoot-out 4–1. As such, the Blues missed out on becoming only the third European men's club to win the sextuple. City clinched their first trophy of the season ten days later, on 16 August, in another one-off match, overcoming Sevilla on penalties after a 1–1 draw after extra time for the club's first-ever UEFA Super Cup. On 27 September, the Blues were knocked out of the League Cup in the third round by Newcastle United following a 1–0 away loss. On 22 December, City defeated Fluminense 4–0 in the Club World Cup final to win the competition for the first time, becoming the first English club to hold five major domestic and international titles simultaneously.
Manchester City's title defence in the Champions League came to an end at the quarter-final stage on 17 April 2024, when they were knocked out by Real Madrid in a penalty shoot-out after a 4–4 aggregate draw over the two legs, having met the Spanish giants in the knockout stages for the third year in a row. The Blues successfully defended their Premier League title for an unprecedented fourth straight season to become the first English men's club in history to win four consecutive top-tier titles. They fought another close title race against Arsenal, sealing the result on the final day of the season with a 3–1 victory against West Ham United at home. In the FA Cup, City once again reached the final where they lost 1–2 to local rivals Manchester United on 25 May, in a rematch of the previous year's final.
The season was the first since 2015–16 without German midfielder and former club captain İlkay Gündoğan, who departed to Barcelona at the end of his contract in the summer, although he would return to City a year later, and the first since 2016–17 and 2017–18 without center back Aymeric Laporte and forward Riyad Mahrez, who both departed to Saudi Pro League clubs Al Ahli and Al Nassr, respectively. Kyle Walker eventually replaced Gündoğan as the new club captain.
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Season summary Pre-season In the aftermath of their historic continental treble-winning season in 2022–23, City's main squad issues ahead of the new season were whether incumbent club captain İlkay Gündoğan would sign a new contract or leave the club on a free transfer after seven successful years; if Kyle Walker would be transferred ahead of his final contract year; whether Aymeric Laporte would be leaving for more playing time, following a season in which he had fallen down the pecking order for central defenders; and, after several years of pre-season speculation, if Bernardo Silva could attract an acceptable fee to allow him to move away from Manchester too.
It was rumoured that City were in transfer talks with Mateo Kovačić from Chelsea and with Joško Gvardiol from RB Leipzig as potential replacements for Gündoğan and Laporte, respectively.
On 21 June, it was announced that Gündoğan would be joining Barcelona on the expiration of his contract after all. His last action as a City player was therefore lifting the club's first Champions League trophy as team captain. On the same day, it was reported that Manchester City had agreed a fee with Chelsea for the transfer of Kovačić.
To further strengthen the team's midfield, City also entered a bidding race with Arsenal for West Ham's Declan Rice, a player similar in profile to Rodri. The club's first offer of £80 million guaranteed plus £10 million in add-ons was rejected by West Ham. Man City pulled out of the race to sign Rice, after West Ham rejected Arsenal's bid of £100 million plus £5 million in add-ons, instead opting to find other players to strengthen their midfield, first being linked with Celta Vigo's Gabri Veiga.
Kovačić's transfer was duly announced on 27 June, for a reported initial fee of £25m plus £5m in potential add-ons.
On 28 July, City announced Riyad Mahrez was leaving the club after five successful years to join Al-Ahli in the Saudi Professional League for a £30 million fee. He was one of many high-profile players in their thirties attracted by lucrative contract offers to join the Saudi league that summer.
The transfer of Gvardiol was confirmed on 5 August after several weeks of negotiations with Leipzig for a reported fee of €90 million (£77.5 million). The club confirmed he would take the 24 shirt number for the season, last worn by John Stones during his first year at City.
The Blues started their pre-season preparations some one to two weeks later than their main rivals to account for their late finish to the previous treble-winning campaign. City played three friendly warm-up games in a tour of Japan and South Korea, where they defeated Yokohama F. Marinos, a fellow CFG club, and Bayern Munich, but lost to Atlético Madrid.
Start of season City suffered a defeat for the third consecutive season in their opening competitive fixture, losing the Community Shield on penalties to Arsenal after a 1–1 draw in normal time at Wembley Stadium on 6 August. Cole Palmer had scored from a wonderful curling shot in the 77th minute, but Leandro Trossard equalised in the eleventh minute of injury time when a cruel double deflection from Julián Alvarez and Manuel Akanji wrong-footed Stefan Ortega. In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Arsenal scored all four penalties, but Kevin De Bruyne's powerful drive hit the cross-bar and Rodri's attempt was saved by Aaron Ramsdale. Losing the English equivalent of a national super cup deprived Manchester City of the opportunity to become only the third European men's club to win the sextuple.
Manchester City started their Premier League campaign with a 3–0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor. Erling Haaland scored twice, and Rodri also chipped in with a goal to seal the victory. Kevin De Bruyne was substituted in the first half, and Pep Guardiola later confirmed that he had sustained a hamstring injury which could keep him out for up to four months if surgery was needed.
On 16 August, City played Sevilla in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup, winning on penalties after a 1–1 draw in normal time and lifting the trophy for the first time in club history.
On 22 August, it was revealed that Pep Guardiola had undergone emergency back surgery and would be unavailable until recovery. During this time, assistant manager Juanma Lillo took charge, winning two games against Sheffield United away and Fulham at home by the scores of 2–1 and 5–1 respectively. The latter game included Haaland's first hat-trick of the season as he became the fastest player to score 40 Premier League goals (in just 39 games), beating the previous records set by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer.
In the final days of the transfer window City brought in exciting Belgian winger Jérémy Doku from Rennes, to effectively replace Mahrez, and creative Portuguese midfielder Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers, both for fees in excess of £50 million. In the other direction, Aymeric Laporte left the club as expected to join Al Nassr in the Saudi League, João Cancelo joined Barcelona for a season-long loan, and academy graduate Cole Palmer joined Chelsea for a fee in excess of £40 million.
By the time of the first international break of the season on 3 September, City were the only remaining Premier League club with a 100% win record and topped the standings by a two-point margin. On 16 September, the Blues extended their winning start in the league to five games by defeating West Ham 3–1 at the London Stadium, with goals from new signing Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.
City's winning run came to an abrupt end at St James' Park vs Newcastle United in the EFL Cup third round, with the Blues being shut out by a reinvigorated Eddie Howe side and exiting the competition at the first hurdle. This was followed by the first league defeat after six consecutive victories at Wolves, with Alvarez scoring an equalising free kick in an eventual 1–2 loss.
Autumn period Manchester City began October with a second consecutive league defeat, this time at Arsenal, losing 0–1 due to a late Gabriel Martinelli winner. This meant the Blues had lost all three games where Rodri served a suspension for a red card he received against Nottingham Forest in September, and they dropped below unbeaten Arsenal and Tottenham in the league table. However, City's good form soon returned and they notably beat their closest rivals Manchester United 3–0 at Old Trafford in the season's first derby match and achieved the biggest winning margin so far by defeating Bournemouth 6–1 at home. The latter game included four assists and a goal from Doku, who set a new club record, equalled the Premier League record for most assists in a single match and, at the age of 21 years and 161 days, became both the youngest player in Premier League history with five goal involvements and the youngest player to assist four goals in a single game.
A comfortable 3–0 home victory against Young Boys on 7 November ensured that title holders City would participate in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 11th consecutive season with two group games to spare.
Two league draws either side of the final autumn international break: an exciting game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that ended 4–4 and a 1–1 draw against Liverpool at home; left City in second place, a point behind Arsenal with a third of the season played. The Blues ended November coming back from two goals down to beat RB Leipzig 3–2 and win their Champions League group for the seventh consecutive season with a game to spare and preserve their record unbeaten streak and winning home streak in the competition.
A third consecutive league draw against Tottenham at the start of December at home was followed by City's third league defeat of the season by a single goal away to an in-form Aston Villa who moved above them in the table. The champions had now not won a league game for a month and were in fourth place in the league table, six points behind leaders Arsenal.
This barren run was finally ended at Luton on 10 December, with a 2–1 victory, despite the absence of goalscoring talisman Haaland due to injury. The final Champions League group game against Red Star Belgrade on 13 December was a dead rubber with both sides' final positions already confirmed. Guardiola used this as an opportunity to make nine changes to the team and give debuts to a few academy players and playing time to less often selected first team players. All three City goalscorers in the subsequent 3–2 victory, Micah Hamilton, Oscar Bobb and Kalvin Phillips, scored their first senior City goals, with Hamilton scoring on his first team debut, and the victory meant City had completed a Champions League group with maximum points for the first time in their history.