“I am still young, just 41, I hope to have the challenge or the opportunity to train there,” were the words of Pep Guardiola early on Wednesday morning. The Spaniard was, of course, referring to England, with a number of Premiership teams, including Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, all believed to been keen on appointing the former Barcelona coach.
Guardiola is currently halfway through his one year sabbatical after stepping down as head coach of Barcelona, having guided them to an astonishing 15 trophies during his four year stint in charge at the Camp Nou.
The unparalleled success has naturally seen his admirers significantly increase, with AC Milan and Bayern Munich also thought to be showing an interest in the former midfielder. However, with England reportedly calling out to him, the scramble to land the 41-year-old is certainly set to be a fierce one.
Yet, while it’s believed Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is keen to see Pep take over the reins at Stamford Bridge, it’s City that have the upper hand, should a mad scramble to land the Spaniard ensue. The Premier League champions recently brought former Barca pairing Roberto Soriano and Txiki Begiristain on board, both of whom worked closely with Guardiola during his time at Barcelona.
With the continued speculation surrounding the future of current City manager Roberto Mancini following his failure to secure safe passage to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the second successive season, there has been reports circulating that the club’s billionaire owners will move to oust the Italian in the summer in order to bring Guardiola to the Etihad Stadium.
Whether that is the case or not, both teams will be keen to land the head coach, who has been lauded as one of the best and rightfully so. With United the likely destination for current Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho, the opportunity to renew old rivalries may be too tempting to turn down for Pep, not to mention Abramovich’s trigger happy nature, lending weight to the argument that the former Barca man is City bound.
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