Guardiola

[Bluemoon]

La Liga


Guillem Balague


Pep Guardiola and Manchester City

Today, my Spanish paper AS, explains the latest on the future of Pep Guardiola


He is coming back to Barcelona for Christmas and there he will meet his agent who will talk to him about Bayern Munich, AC Milan and the contacts that have taken place in the last few months with Chelsea and Manchester City.

The idea is to decide his future by February. And the article is rightly pointing out that City is the favorite to sign him.

His priority is still the Premier League but AS adds another point: Barcelona are scared that City can be a viable option for Pep.

Not only because they reckon it will increase the chances of City becoming a real contender in Europe but also because Pep and director of football Beguiristain know the youth system at Barcelona and could try to fish there (especially Deulofeu, Sergi Roberto or Rafinha ).

I will mention one last point - Chelsea have not taken a decision on the future of their manager, so any conversations that might have taken place since the summer didn't involve an offer to Pep (offer that existed before the summer).

And City? They are putting the right conditions to convince Pep. But there is no offer yet and Pep has not decided what to do either

If you want to know more about Pep, have a look at the biography I wrote and got published yesterday

[eaststand]

There where quotes attributed to Berlusconi (poorly spelt) in guzzetto sport, roughly two weeks ago, asking about AC Milan's interest in bringing in Pep. Can't find the link (pretty sure it was on talksport's website somewhere) but the quotes where along the lines of ''We'd like to but it would be very difficult, there is strong interest from England and he has friends at Man City, but if he becomes available we will try"

[eaststand]

A FIFA agent has claimed that Pep Guardiola has a preliminary agreement to take over at Manchester City in the summer.

The former Barcelona manager quit the club in the summer in order to take a year out from football and enjoy some time out in New York.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich failed to lure Guardiola to Stamford Bridge after sacking Roberto Di Matteo - instead employing Rafa Benitez on a temporary basis - but City manager Roberto Mancini has also had the figure of Guardiola looming over his spell at the Etihad.


Sabbatical: Pep Guardiola is taking a year's break after quitting Barcelona

In the hotseat... but for how long? City manager Roberto Mancini


The Barclays Premier League champions appointed former Barcelona executive Txiki Begiristain as their director of football in October, to work alongside another former Barcelona chief executive Ferran Soriano.

According to the Mirror, Gallardo has told a Spanish radio station that City are already plotting to replace Mancini.

‘Guardiola has a pre-deal to be the next manager of Manchester City,’ he said. ‘No matter if Milan or whoever make offers to him.’

The agent also claimed that City are looking to replace England No 1 Joe Hart with Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes.

He said: ‘It will be an offer to stun your mind. If I were Barcelona, I would be very concerned.’

Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho is also ready to take over the City hotseat this summer, according to The Sun.

Another option: City could turn to Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho

The former Chelsea manager's agent, Jorge Mendes, met with Begiristain in Portugal recently, according to the report, which claims the Special One also has the option of taking over at Paris Saint-Germain but would prefer the City job.

Mourinho still has four years of his deal to run at the Bernabeu but is eager to return to England, where he enjoyed huge success with the Blues.


Read more:

[trautmansdropkick]

I can't see any of this as anything but mischief making by agents TBH.

One thing that I have noticed over the years is that, once a manager has been out of the scene for a few months, his job offers become less and less frequent - the managers quickly become 'forgotten men' and, during 'sabbaticals', it is the agent's job to keep their client's names in the forefront of everyone's mind.

Equally, by threatening that manager 'x' is being courted by another club, just keeps his current club on their toes, making sure their current manager gets all he needs in terms of resources and 'arse licking' to keep him happy.
Let's be honest, every manager has a massive ego, no one without such a large ego would even contemplate going into management.