AC Milan president claims City ‘after’ Guardiola.
AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi claims Manchester City are leading the race to sign Pep Guardiola as their next manager.
Current City boss Roberto Mancini insists his job is secure amid rumours that the arrival of former Barcelona duo Txiki Begiristain and Ferra Sorriano at Eastlands could see Guardiola on his way to Etihad Stadium.
Berlusconi has confirmed that Milan are also chasing Guardiola, who is also thought to favour a role Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s eventual successor.
But Berlusconi, who has angered Milan manager Massimo Allegri with his comments, believes City are in pole position to land the Spaniard when he decides to end his sabbatical.
He said: “Who would not want someone like Guardiola? There are some English clubs after Guardiola, especially [Manchester] City who have directors that we know very well. We will try to sign him, but it’s going to be difficult.”
SOURCE: ESPN
The claim that Man City want to appoint Pep Guardiola as boss next summer would be a lot more believable if it hadn’t been uttered by AC Milan president and former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.
It’s difficult to believe anything that comes out of Berlusconi’s mouth (“She told me she was 18, I swear!”), so his assertion that Man City are ‘after’ Pep Guardiola is probably based on little more than the fact that Txiki Begiristain is now the director of football at Eastlands.
Begiristain joined City earlier this month, having held a similar position at the Nou Camp during Guardiola’s tenure as boss.
The Catalan has been followed to Manchester by several other ex-Barca employees, including Bojan Krkic, who worked as a scout at Barca and whose son and namesake came through the ranks at La Masia.
There was a widely held assumption in Spain that Begiristain’s next move would determine that of Guardiola and, with City crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage yet again, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to imagine Guadiola replacing Roberto Mancini in the summer.
Chelsea, of course, will have other ideas and it is widely understood that the appointment of Rafa Benitez is merely an interim measure until Guardiola finishes his year-long sabbatical.
AC Milan, according to the tactless Berlusconi, would also love to replace current boss Massimo Allegri with the Spaniard, while Bayern Munich have also been credited with an interest. Finally, there has long been talk that Guardiola is the heir-apparent to Sir Aex Ferguson at Old Trafford.
Clearly, Barcelona’s most successful ever coach is going to have plenty of options next summer. But don’t rule out City. They have the cash, the players and now the contacts to turn Guardiola’s head.
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