Pep Guardiola arrival could signal Fergie-esque era of domination for Manchester City

In the last few weeks of 2015, as Pep Guardiola’s move to Manchester City became increasingly inevitable, some across the city at Manchester United felt it might possibly be worth involving Sir Alex Ferguson to try and hijack the deal.

It was already far too late but the wonder is whether it’s now also too late to stop a deeper process regarding the two clubs, and English football as a whole. Ferguson can still be persuasive – which is no doubt why United believed it might be worth using him with Guardiola – and this was never better illustrated than through a comment from 28 years ago that this week feels particularly relevant.

The Scot had been Old Trafford boss for almost two seasons and, although he still wasn’t enjoying a breakthrough as Liverpool remained the country’s finest side, his belief remained undimmed.

“We will get there, believe me,” Ferguson stated. “And when it happens, life will change for Liverpool and everyone else – dramatically.”

It’s difficult not to think we could see something similar in English football, with the confirmation of Guardiola's appointment. Life is about to change for Ferguson’s club and everyone else – dramatically.

If that itself sounds overly dramatic and rather knee-jerk, it’s worth actually considering the longer-term shifts, and how we got here.

First of all, as we all know, City are the wealthiest club in the league. The real key to that, however, has not just been about how much they can spend. It has been how cleverly they have spent it.

They have moved a world away from when former CEO Garry Cook would brag about spending £100m on Kaka before the new era had even done anything. That is precisely because they have replaced officials like Cook with much more astute football people.

City have used their money to build what many sources describe as one of the most sophisticated structures in the game. The contrast with United is stark – and indicative. At Old Trafford, there is almost a vacuum of specialist football knowledge between manager Louis van Gaal and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. That has likely played a large part in the indecision that has dictated everything the club has done over the past two years, most notably in the transfer market.

At City, there is a “knowledge hub”. They went out and got the best people available by appointing the men so crucial to the behind-the-scenes construction of one of the greatest sides in history – Barcelona 2008-11.

Former Camp Nou directors Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano are among those who have provided City with a nous that many snootily thought beyond Manchester’s second most successful club when they were taken over in 2008. Instead, they are creating a defined football culture. They are creating a super-club.

That has also created something of an irony. City’s structure means they actually have less need for a shaman-like traditional super-manager than many others, but it has also meant it was much easier to get him.

They have effectively created the perfect working environment for someone like Guardiola.

Many might subsequently scoff at this supposed lack of ambition on the part of the Spaniard but that’s just not a realistic – or fair – point of view. How many professionals – let alone managers – would take a lower-status job when they can literally have their pick of the best out there?

This also brings us to the real key to all this, and why this could be so dramatically transformative. Contrary to so many ludicrous perceptions, it’s not like Guardiola will just turn up at City and idly allow their resources to give him more trophies by default.

They’re actually appointing someone who works as hard and as rigorously as any other manager in the game. What really elevates him, though, is the level of innovation to his approach. One of the most sophisticated football structures have appointed one of the most sophisticated football managers. There’s a reason so many stars want to play for Guardiola, and it isn’t just his name.

There is another side to this, and another reason why it is so decisive. City will now have an advantage in the transfer market to go with their resources. This is why we could see a new era of domination.

Of course, it may not be as simplistic as that. Whatever the debates about Guardiola’s previous work, it is true that he has not yet competed in a league where so many clubs are so close in terms of resources. There aren’t the extreme financial gaps visible in Spain or Germany. The Premier League is more gradually tiered, and that could mean Guardiola himself has to gradually adapt. It could mean he isn’t quite able to impose his approach in as immediate or as thorough a fashion as he has done in the past.

There are no guarantees to this. It’s just that, through everything they’ve done here, City have made the situation as close to a guarantee as they possibly can.