PEP’S ON HIS WAY TO CITY
He’ll quit Munich for Manchester
PEP GUARDIOLA is heading for the Premier league after deciding to leave Bayern Munich, where he will be replaced by Carlo ancelotti.
The Spanish coach is expected to take over at Manchester City in the summer in what will be a huge blow to Chelsea and Manchester united.
Guardiola has rejected a £280,000-a-week contract to stay in Munich and City are expected to top that and make him the highest paid manager in the Premier league.
City have courted Guardiola, 44, for some time in the belief that he can take them to the pinnacle of European football.
The reputation he has built at Barcelona and Bayern means he can attract superstar players, and having raised £265million from selling a stake in their parent company, City believe this is the time to replace Manuel Pellegrini. Guardiola, whose
deal at Bayern expires in the summer, will go public with his decision to leave the Allianz Arena in the next few days. Chelsea and United have also been put on high alert by the news, but City’s dealmakers are ahead of the game. City sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who was Guardiola’s first director of sport at
Barcelona, is confident of landing his old colleague, as is chief executive Ferran Soriano, who hails from the Catalan capital. City will ensure Guardiola remains the world’s best paid manager with a deal that will see him earn around £15m a year. Jose Mourinho makes around £13m at Chelsea Roman Abramovich would jump at the chance to secure the Spaniard’s services and has the resources to match City’s offer. But Chelsea are well behind City in the race to land the Spaniard. United, despite claims to the contrary, are interested in Guardiola given the uncertainty surrounding Louis van Gaal. But Old Trafford chiefs believe Guardiola’s mooted switch to the Etihad is at such at an advanced stage that they do not want to declare their interest lest they are then seen to lose out to their arch rivals. Guardiola began his coaching career at Barcelona in 2008 and his record of 14 trophies in four seasons made him the most successful manager in the club’s history. After taking a year out of the game, he joined Bayern following their Treble win in 2013, and has continued his trophy-laden success in Germany.
GOALKEEPER Joe Hart has warned that City need a vast improvement in Monday’s big game at Arsenal. ‘We need to start performing as we know we can,’ he said. ‘At least seven, eight of us. We need to be a million per cent better.’