Suddenly, the world’s "top two football managers are on the market," according to Malcolm Moore of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Pep Guardiola, 44, who has won more than 76% of his 134 games with Bayern Munich, "will leave the German club at the end of the season after declining to extend his three-year contract." In his "eight years as a football manager, first at Barcelona and then at Bayern Munich, Guardiola has won 20 trophies, including two Champions League titles." The news "came two days after José Mourinho, 52, was fired by Chelsea, reigning champions of the English Premier League, despite being the most successful manager in the club’s history." The availability of Mourinho and Guardiola, who has been "strongly linked" to Man City, "has fired the imagination of English football fans." After ManU "succumbed to its fifth defeat of the season," some of the club's fans called for their manager, Louis van Gaal, to be replaced by Mourinho. Man City, ManU and Chelsea "have all previously expressed an interest in signing Guardiola." Man City appear to be the favorites "to hire him" (FT, 12/20).
