Pieces in place for ex-Barca stars to lead Man City to glory
Published:
Pep Guardiola’s flirting with the Premier League reached its highest levels this week when he revealed the reason he is leaving Bayern Munich is because he wants to manage in England.
Manchester City are seen as the most likely destination for the 44-year-old and many in the media are suggesting the deal is all but done.
Reuniting with Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, the Citizens’ Chief Executive Officer and Director of Football respectively, is believed to be the reason behind Guardiola’s interest in heading to the Etihad.
Begiristain and Pep played together at Barcelona in the early nineties before linking up again as director and manager in 2008 for a successful two year spell, with Soriano working at the Nou Camp from 2003 to 2008.
During the current Bayern Munich manager’s time at Barcelona with City’s current Director of Football, the Blaugrana won two La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey, two Spanish Super Cups, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
Clearly this is a successful working relationship and chances of replicating this with Man City looks likely, with the money they have at disposal giving the trio the chance to recreate a team in the image of the side they achieved so much with.
This Barca-inspired remodel of the Citizens could also work well in attracting Lionel Messi, with increased speculation that the best player in the world could be open to leaving Catalonia.
Continued legal troubles over taxes have caused the Argentine to re-evaluate his life in Spain and a touted £600,000 a week contract, along with the prospect of linking up with Guardiola, would make the blue side of Manchester an appealing prospect.
Bringing in Messi would complete the Barcelona overhaul at the Etihad as the club would have former personnel from the board level down and this familiarity seems sure to breed further success.
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