Xavi, who was a key player for Guardiola in his four years in charge of Barca, thinks Guardiola will have a huge impact not just on City but the Premier League as a whole.
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Incoming Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is determined to beat Chelsea to the signing of Everton’s £50m-rated centre-back John Stones this summer, according to the Evening Standard. “He made the top team from the German combined team from the league past year, so he must be good, but I’ve not seen enough of him to really know”, Morgan said of the latest Gunners signing, Garnit Xhaka.
“If there is anyone capable of changing that mentality, it is Guardiola. He is without doubt one of the best coaches in the world at the moment”.
New City boss Pep Guardiola has pinpointed Stones and Athletic Club defender Aymeric Laporte as key targets in his summer rebuild of the Etihad-based side.
Barcelona was doing well under Guardiola when Mourinho arrived at Real Madrid in 2010, and in the first game between the two, Barcelona thrashed Madrid 5-0 at the Camp Nou.
“Guardiola thinks about football all the time, he is obsessive in his attention to detail. We continue to talk regularly and we chat about football”.
Sterling is said to be suffering a crisis of confidence, believing the “two-touch” style of play demanded of him by Manuel Pellegrini – and also favoured by Guardiola – does not suit his natural strengths of dribbling at pace at opposition defenders.
Guardiola has seemingly already laid down his demands to the Manchester City board, with the Daily Mirror reporting that he is hoping for a £200 million war chest to bring in as many as eight new players next season.
The grudge dates back to 2008, when Mourinho was overlooked for the Barcelona manager’s job in favour of the inexperienced Guardiola, who was promoted from coaching the club’s B team.
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Pep Guardiola bid farewell to Bayern Munich, and addressed his sorrows at never bringing the UCL title to the club.
