“We continue to talk regularly and we chat about football”.
Advertisement
Manchester City will also see a managerial change at the top with Guardiola taking over from Manuel Pellegrini this summer and Conte will take the reins of Chelsea after the European Championship.
‘If there is anyone capable of changing that mentality, it is Guardiola. It is a great opportunity but there will also be a lot of pressure, because everyone always expects a lot from Pep Guardiola. I think he will change the face of English football.
However, Schweinsteiger had only had positive words about his former manager.
Guardiola faces crucial decisions over the futures of several current City stars including Yaya Toure, Wilfried Bony and Elaqium Mangala but he will be given a warchest to lure the world’s best players.
The Manchester giants are determined to stick with Guardiola’s original transfer targets, as also evidenced with the imminent £20million purchase of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who is now sidelined with a dislocated knee.
“Guardiola was the one to take”.
The Citizens struggled to a fourth-placed finish last term and will need to come through a Champions League qualifier to ensure they make the group stage.
Indeed, when he had access to Barcelona’s La Masia academy, he did not hesitate to bring through Pedro and Sergio Busquets into the senior side, so his arrival in Manchester may not be the death knell of City’s youth prospects.
Advertisement
Arbeloa was part of Mourinho’s Madrid side which broke Barcelona’s strangehold on Spanish football during his three-year spell in the capital by leading the club to the 2011/12 La Liga title.
