December 23 – The merry-go-round among Europe’s most sought after coaches has taken another decisive step with Bayern Munich confirming that that Pep Guardiola will be succeeded at the end of the season by Carlo Ancelotti.
But it is the future of Guardiola himself that has set the rumour mill buzzing after Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Bild: “I think I know where he is going. But I want to leave the announcement to him or his new employer.
Guardiola, always heavily in demand, has been tipped to move to Manchester City to replace Manuel Pellegrini after huge success at Barcelona and Bayern. But Chelsea are now reported to be ready to make him an offer he can’t refuse at the end of the season.
Guardiola himself will be replaced at Bayern by the hugely experienced Ancelotti who has worked at Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, winning the Champions League three times in all.
Rummenigge has described Ancelotti as “a calm, balanced professional who can deal with star players and encourages them to play a versatile style of football.”
More immediately, speculation is intensifying that Manchester United could be about to sack Louis van Gaal and bring in Jose Mourinho who is suddenly on the market having himself been sacked by Chelsea.
The Times reported that United held informal talks with representatives of Mourinho last week to gauge whether the Portuguese would want to succeed van Gaal, who is under mounting pressure after his side failed to win any of their last six games and only just scrapped through the Champions League group stage into the last 16 where they face PSG.
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