Pep Guardiola will become Man City's head coach on July 1 after the club "confirmed the Spaniard has signed a three-year deal, with Manuel Pellegrini stating he is content with the decision," according to Jamie Jackson of the London GUARDIAN. Man City on Monday said in a statement, "Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalised contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head Coach for the 2016/17 EPL season onwards. The contract is for three years. These negotiations were a re-commencement of discussions that were curtailed in 2012. Out of respect for Manuel Pellegrini and the players, the Club wishes to make its decision public to remove the unnecessary burden of speculation." Pellegrini ended his press conference to preview the game against Sunderland by saying, "Before I finish, I want to tell you I have talked with the club and I will finish my contract on the original date" (GUARDIAN, 2/1). In London, Simon Rice reported Man City is "understood to be planning to visit China" as part of the £265M ($383M) deal which saw China Media Capital purchase a 13% stake in the club last month. Guardiola is reportedly "central" to CMC's strategy to "break into the Asian market" (INDEPENDENT, 2/1). REUTERS' Angus MacSwan reported the move "ends months of speculation about the future of the charismatic Guardiola." He had "turned down a contract with Bayern Munich last year and said he would quit at the end of the season." Guardiola, who turned 45 on Jan. 18, won 14 titles with Barcelona in a four-year coaching spell, including the Champions League in '09 and '11. At Bayern, "he won back-to-back league titles and leaves with the side on course for a third." Guardiola's record in the transfer market at Bayern "was impressive, bringing players to the club who went on to become resounding successes" such as Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcantara, Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman, among others (REUTERS, 2/1).
A PRETTY PENNY: In London, James Ducker wrote City "delighted their fans and astounded their rivals" with the signing, and said that the three-year deal is "worth about" £45M ($64.9M). Guardiola is "already the world's highest paid manager," making £12.9M ($18.6M) a year at Bayern. The former Barcelona coach’s salary is expected to increase to about £15.2M ($21.9M) a year -- or £292,000 ($421,200) a week -- at the Etihad. He is also expected to be "backed heavily by City in the transfer market this summer, with two new full backs, a centre half, a central midfielder and a striker in the club’s sights" (LONDON TIMES. 2/2).
RIVALS SNUBBED: In London, Richard Tanner reported Guardiola "snubbed last-minute attempts" from ManU and Chelsea to hijack his move to Man City. City sources "were aware" that neighbors ManU and Chelsea have both spoken to Guardiola's representatives. But City was "always confident the Spaniard would keep his word" that when he ends his three-year contract with Bayern Munich this summer he would take over from Pellegrini. Ironically, Pellegrini "could now come onto Chelsea's radar as they look to replace Jose Mourinho." Guardiola's friendship with City Sporting Dir Txiki Begiristain and CEO Ferran Soriano "was crucial in his decision to move to the Etihad" (EXPRESS, 2/1). Rice reported in a separate piece Pellegrini knew Man City was "working on replacing him" with Guardiola a month ago. Pellegrini said, "There has been a lot of speculation about things, but they (the club) are not doing anything behind me. I knew this one month ago. I don't think it is good to have speculation about different things. I prefer to finish (by announcing) today -- that is why I have told the press and told the players. I told the club two weeks ago that I would do it" (INDEPENDENT, 2/1).
KLOPP WEIGHS IN: SPORTS MOLE's Danielle Joynson reported Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp has claimed that Guardiola's move to Man City will "boost the Premier League." Klopp: "For sure he's one of the best managers in the world. He's had two big big clubs and now he will do his job at Manchester City. Man City has another manager. That's all. Pep, winning nearly everything in Germany, everything in Spain, now he wants to win in England. I think it's good for the Premier League" (SPORTS MOLE, 2/1). The BBC reported former Man City winger Trevor Sinclair said news of Guardiola's appointment was "a massive, massive statement" by the club and "huge news for all City fans." He said, "He's the hottest manager out there. Every club would want him" (BBC, 2/1).
LONG TIME COMING: FOX's Jonathan Wilson wrote "the most exciting news on deadline day was revealed with the least possible fanfare." The statement, intriguingly, "also included confirmation" that Man City had begun negotiating with Guardiola in '12, the year he left Barcelona before taking a sabbatical and, in '13, moving to Bayern. That means that "they were talking to him long before Robert Mancini left the club" in May '13. In itself, that is not "especially revelatory." Begiristain, who joined Man City in Oct. '12, worked with Guardiola at Barcelona. Soriano, who also worked with Guardiola at Barça, has spoken of a "holistic approach" to management, which was always seen as meaning that City "should be made more like Barca, with a unified set of footballing principles running from the first team to the youths." And "who better to implement that than Guardiola." That "makes City look ruthless, even underhand, but Pellegrini was adamant that he has been kept fully in the picture" (FOX, 2/1).
RIVAL'S REACTION: In London, Paul Hayward opined if you thought Klopp to Liverpool "was big, observe the euphoria" at Man City, the "bead of sweat" on ManU's brow and "the sense across football" that Man City's hiring of Guardiola is its "big play for superpower status." Only "by buying Lionel Messi could City have made a grander statement to the Champions League elite." For Guardiola the attraction of Man City over other Premier League clubs "is autonomy." With "part of the Barcelona brains trust already in place" Soriano and Beguiristain -- Guardiola can "pursue his work without the kind of interference or off-stage chirping he encountered in Germany." Thus Man City "will be rebuilt in the new manager’s image, which could be bad news for some (Yaya Toure, for example) but a thrilling proposition for City’s supporters." By "any measure this brings an escalation of threat to England’s other top clubs," especially ManU, whose "sleep-aid football is now unflatteringly juxtaposed with the kind of ambitious, attacking style Guardiola will insist on in the sky blue half of Manchester" (TELEGRAPH, 2/1).
