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| 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
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