Ex Barca coach Pep Guardiola is all set to take charge of a Premier League club next season. With offers from Chelsea, Manchester United and City, Guardiola has opened up about what appeals to him taking charge of an English club.
“I’ve always found English football very fascinating, for the environment, the crowd and the supporters,” said the ex Barca coach. “In Italy, Latin people will support you when you are playing and when you lose, they kill you. In England I’m always surprised that people always support everything and that is nice. That’s why, maybe, I hope to have the challenge or the opportunity to train there.
“As a player, I couldn’t realise my dream to play there. But I hope in the future I have a challenge to be a coach or a manager there and feel the experience of all the coaches and players that have been there. It is unique, to play in that league. The support is amazing. I want to feel the supporters, the environment, the media and the style of the players and everything. I am still young, just 41, so I hope in the future I could be able to train there and enjoy that.”
The Catalan coach was speaking ahead of the FA’s 150th anniversary commemorations that will be held in London today. He has also acknowledged the interest from a handful of Premier League clubs that are vying for his services. Guardiola’s statement comes just a day after Real Madrid coach Mourinho’s desire to work in the Premier League again.
Regarding the offer from London club Chelsea, Russian magnate Roman Abramovich is prepared to break the bank and offered Guardiola a massive 22Million euros per season to turn his “Blues” into the next big thing. Further up north, Manchester United have the Catalan coach as a top priority for when Sir Alex Ferguson finally retires. He has just celebrated his 71st birthday and that could mean retiring at the end of this season and go out with a bang if United claim back the Premier League title from noisy neighbours City. Meanwhile City are still hopeful and may land Guardiola at the expense of Italian coach Roberto Mancini.
One of the things that may sway Guardiola’s decision to train City is the fact that Ferran Soriano, the club’s chief executive and Txiki Begiristain, the director of football, were both at Barcelona with Pep Guardiola.
With German interest coming from Bayern Munich along with French club Paris St Germain and even Milan, Guardiola has a lot of offers. Despite all this interest, Guardiola’s admiration for English football is becoming increasingly clear and therefore would no table any other offers outside of the Premier League.
Guardiola has sent the FA a good luck message for tonight’s anniversary and spoke at length about the country that “created the rules of football” and has “been important in the development of our beautiful, beautiful game.”
Speaking about his fondness for the nation, Guardiola recalled his experiences as both coach and player at the old and new Wembley stadiums when he won the European Cup with Barcelona as a youngster in 1992 and again in 2011 beating Ferguson’s Red Devils in the Champions League final.
Guardiola finished by saying:
“I am a lucky guy because I had the opportunity to play two finals, both in England at Wembley, and that’s why my relationship with England is pretty close.”
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Valora en Bitacoras.com: Ahead of the English FA’s 150 year anniversary, Ex Barça coach Pep Guardiola has made his next destination known – the English Premier League. With offers coming in from the top 3 clubs in the country and Chelsea willing to …..