Pellegrini beware, City have already talked to Klopp... after
MANCHESTER CITY have already met Jurgen Klopp to assess him for the manager’s job — but it was back in 2013 when they were seeking a replacement for Roberto Mancini.
Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football, met the Borussia Dortmund manager and concluded he was not the right fit for City at that time. The club went on to appoint Manuel Pellegrini.
Begiristain’s rejection of Klopp suggests he will not get the City job this time, despite a wave of speculation since he revealed last week that he was quitting Dortmund.
Pellegrini’s position is vulnerable given City’s failures this year in the Champions League, which was the principal target, the Premier League and the domestic cups.
And the Chilean has admitted if City fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League, he would fear for his job.
‘You are wrong if you think that you are out if you don’t win the title,’ he said. ‘But if we miss out (on Champions League qualification) then maybe it will be different because that would not be the same thing. If that happens, the analysis of the season will be different. Not to play in the Champions League is a disaster.’
City sources also insist it should not be assumed Pellegrini will be dismissed because, unlike under Mancini, the club is running smoothly without the internal tensions which characterised the Italian’s last days.
There will be the usual end-of-season review of the manager’s performance and Pellegrini will have to answer difficult questions about the team’s performance. They have sunk to fourth place and risk being overhauled by Liverpool in the table.
Begiristain must answer questions about the recruitment last summer of Eliaquim Mangala for £35m and Fernando for £13m, neither of whom has made a positive impact.
On the plus side for Pellegrini, his style of play is seen as compatible with the type of club Begiristain and chief executive Ferran Soriano are attempting to create. Both are former executives at Barcelona.
Pellegrini added: ‘We play the football I want, attractive football. We are not getting the results that we need, but we are going the right way. You cannot guess the future. It is a matter of trust.’
Klopp’s counterattacking football does not fit City’s philosophy and there was also a sense in 2013 that his exuberant personality would not suit City.
If City do make a change this summer,