Pep Guardiola taking over at Manchester City as Manuel Pellegrini announces exit
:focal(154x147:156x145)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2015/03/26/1443764-30872247-310-310.jpg)
Updated 01/02/2016 at 15:12 GMT
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has dropped a bombshell by announcing that he will leave his job in the summer - and that Pep Guardiola will take over.
Bayern Munich's coach Pep Guardiola (L) reacts next to Manchester City's manager Manuel Pellegrini (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
Pellegrini's contract ran until the summer of 2017, but he announced on Monday that he will step down at the end of the season.
And Manchester City quickly confirmed the long-established rumour that former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola will take over the role on a three-year contract.
City put out a statement saying that the club had finalised negotiations with Bayern Munich manager Guardiola in the last few weeks.
Pellegrini confirmed that, saying that he had been told a month ago that he would not be in his role beyond the end of the season.
Guardiola said at the start of December that he would be quitting the German champions at the end of the current campaign, and that he would be taking a job in the Premier League.
The identity of the club he was to take over remained a mystery, however: while City had long been his rumoured destination due to old friends (and Barcelona collaborators) Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano being at The Etihad.
But with the managerial vacany created by Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea, and Louis van Gaal's unpopularity at Manchester United, nothing seemed set in stone.
On Monday, that all changed: the worst-kept secret in football has been confirmed, and City have pulled off one of the greatest coups since their takeover by Sheikh Mansour.
Will Pep Guardiola win the Premier League title for Manchester City next season?
City's statement added that Pellegrini "is entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season".
With a potential quadruple still in the offing for City, those targets could yet be met in style: City are already in the League Cup final, are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup, remain well placed in the Premier League, and have a relatively straightforward tie against Dynamo Kiev in the first knockout round of the Champions League.
Should City end up winning two or even three trophies, Guardiola will still not be in uncharted territory. He was in a similar situations with Bayern Munich in 2013, having been announced as the next manager in January, and then looking from the stands as Jupp Heynckes guided the Bavarian giants to a historic treble.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2013/12/11/1148534-18292348-2560-1440.jpg)
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini and Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
CITY FINALLY GET THEIR MAN
When Manchester City took on Manuel Pellegrini in 2013, he had not been the club's first choice: that had been Guardiola, then on a sabbatical after leaving Barcelona at the end of 2012.
And City's statement on Monday confirmed that the negotiations which have led to this latest appointment were a "recommencement of talks" which originally started in 2012.
Guardiola's reputation as the finest coach in world football was built at Barcelona, where he assembled a treble-winning team widely regarded as among the finest collections of footballing talent in history.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2012/04/27/835132-20461583-2560-1440.jpg)
Pep Guardiola after Champions League final 2011
Image credit: AFP
City's owners have made no secret of their desire to turn the second-biggest club in Manchester into the biggest club in the world, and while they have world-class playing talent they had yet to land one of the elite cadre of "super coaches", a list that includes the likes of Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti as well as Guardiola.
That gap in their structure has now been plugged - and the shockwaves will be felt throughout English football. And more keenly up the road at Manchester United than anywhere else.
MANCHESTER CITY: FULL STATEMENT
Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalized contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head coach for the 16/17 EPL season onwards. The contract is for three years. These negotiations were a re-commencement of discussions that were curtailed in 2012. Out of respect for Manuel Pellegrini and the players, the Club wishes to make its decision public to remove the unnecessary burden of speculation. Manuel Pellegrini, who is fully supportive of the decision to make this communication is entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season ahead of retaining the respect and commitment of all involved with the leadership of the Club.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement