Peps 3-year plan

Pep Guardiola’s three-year plan to make Manchester City the best team on planet

Future Etihad boss targets Pique, Alaba, Messi and Pogba

PEP GUARDIOLA has told Manchester City he does not want a job for life — he wants a challenge of a lifetime.

And that is why City’s chiefs have sold the world’s best manager the project of making their club the biggest on the planet.

Guardiola has won more major honours — 19 — in his seven-year coaching career than City have won in their 136-year history.

And it is that Midas touch which the richest club in the world want to turn them into the world’s best team.

The ambition for City is to win the Champions League for the first time during Guardiola’s tenure and lay the foundations for future global domination.

During lengthy negotiations over the past three months, the Spaniard has been sold the vision of City’s grand project with him at the centre of it.

And money will be no barrier to recruiting the players Guardiola, 44, believes are crucial.

The first, improbable as it may seem to some, is Lionel Messi with whom Guardiola won two Champions League titles and a hat-trick of La Liga crowns at Barcelona.

A new-look City will build their team around the Argentina maestro, 28, who is earmarked to play just behind international team-mate Sergio Aguero. SunSport revealed back in November, City have offered Messi a staggering £800,000-a-week deal to join Guardiola’s dream team.

The coach is not the only Barca old boy at the Etihad with Yaya Toure, chief executive Ferran Soriano and sport director Txiki Begiristainpresent.

Guardiola was part of City owner Sheikh Mansour’s plans for the club since he bought it in 2008.

His appointment of Soriano and Begiristain in 2012 was done on condition they land Guardiola.

When Guardiola chose Bayern Munich ahead of City and Chelsea 2½ years ago, he did so on the promise the Premier League would be the next stop.

As a result Soriano and Begiristain have been under huge pressure to get their man ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United.

Mansour was assured his ambition to appoint the coach he coveted more than any other would be realised within three years.

That explains why Manuel Pellegrini stayed last summer despite failing to win a trophy.

Although the decision to extend the Chilean’s contract was more designed to prevent him facing questions about his future for the whole of this term.

Behind the scenes, Soriano and Begiristain have spent the past year in contact with Guardiola and his representatives pouring over details.

They know Guardiola well; his personality, intense methods of working and quirks which can make him difficult to manage.

It has been made clear the coach does not want to build a dynasty and insisted on a three-year contract with no option to extend. But what has impressed Guardiola is City’s vision. As well as Messi, he has identified Juventus powerhouse Paul Pogba as integral to improving the team.

Bayern left-back David Alaba, 23, will also be targeted for a summer move as Guardiola aims to hit the 2016-17 season running at full speed.

Barca centre-back and former Manchester United star Gerard Pique, 28, is another on the wanted list with doubts over the long-term fitness of captain Vincent Kompany.

Guardiola has been told the sale of a 13 per cent stake for £265million in City’s parent company — City Football Group — last month was done to help underwrite the huge investment in him and new players.

He has also been promised the chance to manage sister club New York City when he decides the time is right.

That would be a very attractive proposition to Guardiola who has a Manhattan house and spent the majority of his sabbatical year there in 2012-13.

When announcing his intention to move to England this summer, Guardiola insisted “it will be the club which makes the announcement”.

However, he hinted he already knew his destination when he told Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge he would be leaving.

The conversation took place at the Christmas staff party where Guardiola indicated where he would coach next.

Rummenigge asked: ‘Is it United?’ Guardiola shrugged his shoulders.

‘City then?’ added the president.

Guardiola just smiled, leaving Rummenigge and the world to wait on confirmation of his Etihad move and the biggest challenge of his career.

Pique an interesting choice but the rest are good calls..

A while back i said MP should get Stones this season and leave Pep to sort the attacking options out in the summer...i still stand by that after last night.

Was also effortless for Stones to push to RB and Barry slotted in centre half when they went down to 10 men..
He didn't do an awful lot wrong for me last night..  Saying that, neither did Mangala.

So he wants three years, a big pot of dosh and no extension... Doesn't sound like someone building a dynasty, more like someone beefing up his CV. How does this blatant lack of continuity help us? What happens when he goes, leaving massively paid egos for someone else to manage? I don't like this but and run style of management; if he is successful (and it's only an if) then leaves, what then?

I don't know... I'm not entirely sold on Pep as it is and this doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that anyone has their eye on the long game.

*hit and run management. Stupid auto correct...

Well, if you look at what he did at Barca after his spell there, then he left...look at what Barca did the last 2 seasons - not too shabby...and could easily go on a win another treble this season.

Who was at the helm when they got stuffed in the CL?

Even if there was a dip after he left, they are back to where they were before.

blueboy wrote:Well, if you look at what he did at Barca after his spell there, then he left...look at what Barca did the last 2 seasons - not too shabby...and could easily go on a win another treble this season.

But by contrast, look at what Bayern had achieved prior to his arrival: A CL final in which they were robbed by Chelsea's bus, followed by another CL final in which they won. And since then, they've not made it to the final. So what is this telling us? That we should go after Luis Enrique when Pep leaves? Or should we get Jupp Heynckes out of retirement instead?

Pep doesn't have a magic wand. I'd still be very happy if he stayed 3 years and we won the league every year and got to 1/4s or semis in the CL. Oh, and a cup each year!

Since when is Longevity the criterion for management. Wenger is an anomaly in so much as these days if they last 3 years they have done well. It is ok if you are a mid table to higher echelon club, but the  successful clubs go through managers like we the fans go have hot dinners. There is no such thing as loyalty at the top the manager can leave after 3 years as much as the owner can sack you & lets face it when you have invested heavily you expect a return for that investment. Time waits for no man club owners are the power brokers that seem to have less patience.

Agree, the days of a Manager's staying 10yrs plus are over.

Doesn't speculation about Pep taking over affect the current players.  It absolutely did when the rumours started over Mancini?

It does, but the players should be professionals and still do their jobs. Or the manager should drop them for players that will.

What about the players at Chelsea who didn't do their job for Maureen.  Think it must psychologically affect players.  Same in all walks of life.

Trouble with Maureen wensdi is; he wouldn't have been able to put 11 on the pitch if he'd dropped all the dissenters.