May 11 – Although the league season across Europe isn’t quite over, the managerial rumour mill is already in full swing – with Pep Guardiola’s switch to Manchester City top of the list.
Two Premier League titles and two domestic cups in four years is no bad return but these days only the biggest prizes on an annual basis are good enough for City as they bid to join the European elite.
With the exception of Jose Mourinho, Guardiola is top on every major club’s list and City are rumoured to be keen to bring him from Bayern Munich to replace Manuel Pelligrini.
Middle East broadcasters BeIN Sports claimed on Sunday that Guardiola has already reached an agreement to replace Pellegrini but this has been firmly refuted by City.
Nevertheless, although City thrashed Queens Park Rangers 6-0 on Sunday for their biggest win of the season to relegate the London club and could still finish second behind Chelsea, reports suggest Pelligrini’s days are numbered.
The likes of Manchester United and Liverpool are still way ahead of City in terms of brand awareness in regions like Asia as a show of hands at last week’s Soccerex conference in Jordan illustrated, and as is increasingly being made clear by the Insideworldfootball weekly Twitter stats (see http://bit.ly/1K1928B).
Guardiola won a league and cup double in his first season with Bayern but although they recently clinched their 25th Bundesliga title, they have been all but eliminated in the semifinals of the Champions League by Guardiola’s former club Barcelona barring a second-leg miracle this week. His stock remains high, however, and a move to City would seem logical.
However, former Bayern legend Lothar Matthaus has blamed Guardiola for their relative slump in form.
“Guardiola has already said that their season is over and he’s been rotating his team so much that he’s unsettling the team,” he told Sky Deutschland. “His team no longer has the stability they had for over eight months, enchanting football fans up and down Germany. It seems the players are losing a bit of belief in the coach, and he hadn’t expected that.”
Despite all the speculation, Guardiola insists he is going nowhere.
“I’ve already said 200 million times – I’ll be here next season. That’s it,” he told a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s return leg with Barca. “I have a year left on my contract. Next season I will be here.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734921106labto1734921106ofdlr1734921106owedi1734921106sni@w1734921106ahsra1734921106w.wer1734921106dna1734921106