City, Arsenal, United? Pep Guardiola will come to the Premier League, but who will he manage?

24 April 2015 09:13

It’s late July 2011, and Pep Guardiola’s Champions League-winning Barcelona side is competing in the Audi Cup in Munich.

In Marti Perarnau’s fly-on-the-wall book ‘Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola’s First Season at Bayern Munich’, the Spanish journalist writes, “Pep liked the set-up at Säbener Strasse [Bayern Munich’s training complex]. The Catalan told Manel Estiarte [his personal assistant] privately: ‘I like this place. I could see myself coaching here one day.’

18 months later, Pep Guardiola was announced as the next Bayern Munich manager.

The 44-year-old Catalan is special. As a football coach, he advocates possession, instils courage in his players, takes risks, and wins. Guillem Balague described him in his biography ‘Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning’ as “an older brother for some, a father figure for others, a Messiah, for a few. A leader, a role model, the ideal husband, the fiancé you dream of, the friend you share a beer with on a Saturday, a good man, healthy, calm and alternately passionate and measured.”

Such an enticing individual and intelligent football mind makes for a managerial candidate that has only the title above him on any shortlist. Reports this week that Pep’s job at Bayern may be in jeopardy if they failed to overcome a first-leg 3-1 loss to Porto were abolished when his side rampaged their way to a 6-1 second-leg victory.

Pep will fulfil his contract at Bayern – which expires at the end of the 2016/2017 season – but may even extend it. When Bayern president Uli Hoeness was imprisoned for tax evasion in March 2014, Pep said, “I want to go on for two or three years, giving my best to this club, because my dream is to start over again working with Uli when he returns.”

It is probable that Pep will extend his Bayern contract, but if he decides to leave, there will be no sabbatical next time; he would take charge of a new club at the beginning of the 2016/2017 season.

On the matter of what league he will be joining, there is only one answer…

Speaking at the 150th anniversary of the FA in 2013, the stylish coach said “I hope in the future to have the opportunity to be a manager [in the Premier League] and have the same experience that other managers and players have had there.”

The question is: which club will he be joining? Here’s a breakdown of the possible clubs and the factors affecting their chances…

Manchester City

City are widely-touted to be the next suitors for Pep because of one factor that could give them the edge. Timing. If City persist with Pellegrini and the current City manager sees through his contract – which expires at the end of the 2015/2016 season – then they could welcome the potentially-vacant Pep, whose Bayern contract expires at the same time.

Txiki Begiristain, who worked with Pep at Barcelona as the director of football, is now functioning in the same role at City, and this is a string being pulled in the Manchester club’s pursuit of Pep.

However, for all the recent success of City, it is their heritage which may deprive them. Marti Perarnau says, “Pep has always felt a deep admiration, almost veneration, for the legendary teams and players of Europe.”

In an interview with ITV in November, Pep suggested City don’t have this trait when speaking about City’s troubled efforts in Europe, saying, “They have the quality, but they don’t have the history and sometimes these little details, like the t-shirt, makes the difference.”

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has further dampened City’s aspirations this week, being quoted in German newspaper ‘Bild’ as saying, “I cannot imagine that Pep would go to a club like Manchester City.”

Timing: Yes
Suitability: No
Links: Yes

Arsenal

City’s strength is Arsenal’s weakness. With Wenger’s contract expiring at the end of the 2016/2017 season, the North London club is a season late of a potentially-vacant Pep, and the chances of Wenger leaving beforehand or getting sacked are as slim as his waistline.

With Jurgen Klopp’s resignation last week, the Arsenal board made it clear they had no interest in recruiting a new manager and that Wenger will see out his contract at the very least. This suggests no advancements have previously been made towards Pep.

What Arsenal can flaunt, though, is the vision and philosophies of the club. Wenger’s belief of “possession with progression” football is aligned with Pep’s tactical outlook – Perarnau writes how Pep explained his philosophy to his Bayern players by saying, “It’s not possession that matters, but the intention behind it.”

Given Wenger’s reshaping of Arsenal into a technically-gifted side over the last decade, the personnel are ideal for a Guardiola-coached side. The quality is there and, after seeing the wayward baton-pass between Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes, seeing Pep take the reins from Wenger would make for a smooth transition into the home straight.

Timing: No
Suitability: Yes
Links: No

Manchester United

Similar to Arsenal’s situation, Louis van Gaal’s contract expires at the end of the 2016/2017 season, meaning the Old Trafford club may miss out on Pep elongating a similar philosophy to LvG, like when Pep became manager at Barcelona in 2008 – five years after the Dutchman had left the Catalan club.

However, it seems sensible to believe that Manchester United want to promote Ryan Giggs into the role of first-team coach after LvG departs in 2017. He embodies the home grown pride of United, is learning first-hand from one of football’s best teachers, and has already revelled in the role at the end of the 2013/2014 season.

Then again, managing Manchester United does appeal to Pep…

It’s May 4, 2011, and Pep Guardiola’s soon-to-be Champions League-winning Barcelona side watched on as Manchester United defeated Schalke 4-1 to confirm a Wembley final between United and Barcelona.

Pep turned to his personal assistant, Manel Estiarte and said, “I like this atmosphere. I could see myself working here one day.”

Timing: No
Suitability: Yes
Links: Yes

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Source: DSG