I’ll bring peace after the civil war
MANUEL PELLEGRINI says he was never going to duck the challenge of healing West Ham’s wounds despite seeing the club erupt into civil war from the other side of the globe.
The manager watched on television as scenes of chaos unfolded as the Hammers slumped to a home defeat against Burnley in March that nudged the club closer towards the relegation zone.
Pellegrini was in charge of Hebei China Fortune but already knew he could be heading to east London when he saw skipper Mark Noble wrestle with a pitch invader while hundreds of fans gathered in front of the directors’ box to protest against the club’s board.
If anything was going to put off a prospective manager, that was it, even if former manager David Moyes did eventually steer his side to safety.
But Pellegrini is adamant he has never been intimidated by a challenge in his life, and there was no way that day of shame was going to stall his Premier League return.
“I saw all the games last season, not only West Ham,” said the former Manchester City manager. “I knew what happened with the Burnley game. But, fortunately for me, I have never been afraid of anything in my life.
“I like to have good challenges. When I arrived at Villarreal nobody believed that we could have success there and we did it. I went to Malaga after I had just finished Real Madrid.
“I had at least six different options, big options, in six different countries but I chose Malaga as the club were fighting against relegation and we wanted to build a project.
“I hope we can do it here. I will not fail in that and I am sure that the fans will support the club because they are seeing that something is changing inside.”
Pellegrini landed the City job on the back of his success in Spain – but his record in England has been overshadowed because of the levels set by Pep Guardiola’s side last season.
The Chilean knew he was keeping the seat warm for the Spaniard when he was installed at the Etihad Stadium.
But Pellegrini points to his success in delivering the title and League Cup – as well as a record-breaking haul of 151 goals in all competitions – during his first season at the club as evidence he has nothing to prove.
“I knew Txiki Begiristain [City director of football] and Ferran Soriano [City CEO] before I went there and they told me they had two options, Guardiola and me,” he said.
“At that moment, Pep signed at Bayern Munich. And they got in touch with me. And I knew that the moment Guardiola wanted to come to England, he would be coming to Manchester City. I won the Premier League, the League Cup twice, was the highest-scoring team in the history of England in one season. So I was very happy with my three years.
“I could have stayed in the Premier League but I wanted to go to China and now I am at a great club like West Ham.
“I don’t have any problem with the owner of Manchester City, with the sporting director.”
Pellegrini first met West Ham co-owner David Sullivan “some months” ago when he was promised control of the football-side of the club and asked to help recruit former Malaga colleague Mario Husillos as director of football.
So far, seven new signings have arrived at the London Stadium – Pellegrini says he has had the final say on every transfer – including Jack Wilshere and £36million recordbuy Felipe Anderson from Lazio, ending a three-year pursuit of the player. “I followed Felipe Anderson when he was at Lazio and I wanted to bring him here to Manchester City,” added Pellegrini, who believes the capture of the midfielder is a signal of intent. “Maybe in recent seasons, people were complaining about the money spent here but one of the reasons David Sullivan convinced me to come here was that he told me he was going to bring in good players.”