Man City Commercial Dir Omar Berrada said that new Manager Pep Guardiola will take the club to "another level," according to Jonathan Smith of ESPN.com. Berrada said that Guardiola "will have an impact on the club off the pitch as well as on it." Guardiola enjoyed remarkable success at previous clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as well as winning admirers for his style of football at both sides. Berrada said, "Pep is a proven winner. He has a track record of delivering success and also has a track record of delivering teams that play beautiful football. ... And I think he will help us definitely raise our visibility and awareness around the world. But the impact he's going to have mostly is on the pitch. As we all know this is what fans mostly want to see." The spotlight on Manchester is set to increase even more with Guardiola due to renew his bitter rivalry with new ManU Manager Jose Mourinho. Guardiola and Mourinho will "first go head-to-head in a preseason friendly in Beijing on July 25 as China starts to make a huge investment in football." The City Football Group sold a 13% stake to a consortium of Chinese investors. Berrada: "China is definitely a market we are looking into in terms of how to be able to participate in this fantastic story that they're building -- using football to help grow, share and develop certain values around physical activity and teamwork" (ESPN.com, 7/11).
