Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Pep Guardiola: Which English club will the cap fit?




Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola announced on Tuesday that his next destination would be the English Premiership. The 44 year old confirmed last December that he would be leaving Bayern Munich when his contract expires in the summer. The former Barcelona manager came to limelight in his four year stint with the Catalans by winning 14 trophies from 2008-2012 after he made the transition from Barcelona B side to manage the senior team. The trophy haul included a treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa Del Rey in his first season. After leaving Barcelona, he took a one year sabbatical, and he returned to manage the most successful club in German football Bayern Munich, he has two bundesliga titles in his first two seasons, and he is well placed to claim a third straight league title with the Bavarians in his last season as Bayern Munich manager are seven points clear of Borussia Dortmund ahead of the second half of the season. However, the failure to bring a champions league title so far to the Allianz Arena has been a blot on his otherwise unrivalled managerial career, especially when the manner of the semi final defeats to Real Madrid and Barcelona in 2014 and 2015 is put into consideration, where they lost 5-0 and 5-3 on aggregate in both matches.
Whether he can go one step further this season will depend on how they fare against Seria A champions Juventus in the round of 16.

With his declaration that his next destination is the English Premiership, there will be an inevitable scramble for his services. The overwhelming favourite is Manchester City because of the presence of Ferran Soriano who is the club’s chief executive and Txiki Begiristain who is the director of football in the Citizens management set up at the Etihad Stadium, they were Guardiola’s bosses at the Nou Camp during his hugely successful four years in Catalonia. With that structure already in place, he has a ready made platform with which to work on, as well as people he knows very well from his days at Barcelona. This should swing it in the Citizens favour.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Group owners of the club have ambitious plans to turn the fortunes of the club around. That they have done with the two league titles, an FA Cup and League Cup they have won in four years, but it is the dominance of Europe which have eluded them in spite of the turn over of managers and millions spent at the club since Sheikh Mansour took over the club.
It would seem that the club’s hierarchy see Pep Guardiola has the man that can deliver that consistent dominance in Europe that they have craved. To them he is the anointed one that would take them to that European elite club.
The money to mould the squad to his image is there, but the present Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini would have to step aside for Pep to come in. The Chilean still has 18 months in his contract, and with Pep available in the summer, the club is likely to dispense with his services in order to take advantage of Pep’s availability.

However, despite Manchester City’s strong position in the race to win Pep’s signature, Roman Abramovich could have a say or two in the drama. The Russian Oligarch has been a longtime admirer of Pep’s managerial ability. Over the years, he has tried albeit unsuccessfully to bring him to Stamford Bridge, as he has never been enamoured by the Chelsea owner’s plans to bring him to West London.
With the managerial position at Stamford Bridge expected to be vacate this summer when Guus Hiddink’s short stint ends, the Russian would certainly try once again to see whether he can bring him to London.
While it is possible that he might settle for the job at the Bridge, it could be difficult because of the quick fire and hire policy of the Chelsea owner, such an attitude which has recently accounted for several managers could put off the Catalan from considering any offer from the Premiership champions.

Then there is Manchester United. It is no secret that former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson met Pep Guardiola on two occasions while he was on sabbatical in New York to discuss the possibility of his taking over at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson had not decided to retire at the time of those meetings. However, at the time he announced his sudden retirement, Pep had already agreed a deal to take over at Bayern Munich. Something that took Ferguson by surprise. Even with his availability once again, it very unlikely that he would be heading to Old Trafford. As Louis van Gaal could end up seeing out his contract which will have one year to run from this summer.

Like the aforementioned clubs, Pep has also been linked to Arsenal, but this have the least possibility of happening, largely because of Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman still has 18 months in his contract, and there is a real chance that it could be extended if he can get more trophies in the cabinet. There is no sign that Wenger would be ending his almost 20 years association with Arsenal anytime soon.

A couple of years ago few would have thought that Manchester City would be the overwhelming favourite to get Pep Guardiola as manager, but how times have changed in the football landscape in England, that they can now call on some of the best players in the world, and in what would be a coup de grace, the best manager in the world in club football in Pep Guardiola

 


No comments:

Post a Comment