Heir to Pep’s City throne in 2021? Van Bronckhorst given a pass to access all areas of Etihad operation

MANCHESTER CITY are preparing for life after Pep Guardiola after giving Dutch coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst an access-allareas role at the club.

Van Bronckhorst has spent the last month working behind the scenes at the Etihad after being persuaded by City chiefs to ditch his plan to take a one-year sabbatical following his decision to step down as manager of Feyenoord at the end of last season.

The Premier League champions have claimed that their relationship with the former Barcelona, Arsenal and Rangers midfielder is an informal arrangement designed to help him further develop his expertise. But Sunday Mirror Sport understands that City approached Van Bronckhorst – and he has signed a contract that has put him on the payroll.

The plan is for him to remain in Manchester if it proves a good fit.

Guardiola’s contract with City expires in the summer of 2021.

And after seeing rivals Manchester United flounder in the six years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the Spanish executives who run the club for Sheikh Mansour want to put a succession plan in place.

Van Bronckhorst will spend the next year getting to know the inner workings of the club that has become the dominant force in English football over the last decade.

The 44-year-old is currently working alongside close friend Brian Marwood, City ’ s highly- influential Football Administration Officer.

And the Dutchman has already become so immersed in the club that he has been staying in one of the four- star, standard r ooms at the £ 200mil l i o n City

Football Academy.

Van Bronckhorst is being given an insight into how the club operates at boardroom level, as well as the workings of City’s extensive scouting network and their coaching set- up from academy level upwards. He will also be shown the commercial side of a business that is expected to announce turnover in excess of £600m when the latest financial figures are announced in the coming days.

It is certainly not a done deal that Van Bronckhorst will succeed Guardiola w when the Catalan finally leaves.

City handed former midfielder Patrick V Vieira a similar brief w when he retired as a player after the 2011 FA Cup Final.

The Frenchman began by shadowing then Chief Executive Garry Cook before moving into coaching with the youth and EDS teams.

Vieira was then handed the job of managing sister club New York City, but decided to leave the City Football Group when French Ligue 1 club Nice approached him last year.

Mikel Arteta ( left) has impressed three seasons spent working alongside Guardiola, while former captain Vincent Kompany would be an ideal candidate to become City boss if he can overcome the early problems he is facing as playermanager of Anderlecht.

But Van Bronckhorst has some powerful allies at the Etihad – including Guardiola.

The pair first met when the Dutchman joined Barcelona from Arsenal in 2003.

Guardiola was winding down his own playing career at the time, with Italian club Brescia and then Al Ahli in Doha.

But he got to know Van Bronckhorst while helping Barca win the La Liga title and the Champions League. The