MANCHESTER UNITED LEGEND Paul Scholes has tipped Pep Guardiola to take charge of Manchester City once his contract with Bayern Munich expires.
“Manchester City is the destination that has been mentioned more than once but all the information that comes back to me in Manchester is that Pep Guardiola will take that job when his contract at Bayern Munich expires in one year’s time,” he wrote in his column in The Independent.
As for how successful he might be, Scholes believes the two-time Champions League winning manager would struggle to improve Manchester City’s fortunes in Europe. He says that “establishing Manchester City as European champions would be bigger than any of the challenges he has faced so far in his career”.
“I accept that when he took over at Barcelona they were a long way from the side that won the 2006 Champions League. In Frank Rijkaard’s last season they finished third, 18 points behind the champions Real Madrid, but even so Guardiola had a lot of the pieces already in place.
Even with superstars like Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure, City have continued to under-perform in the tournament since they qualified for the first time back in 2011-12. As a result, they have never gone further than the second round.
“Making them the best side in Europe would be a far more difficult task than doing the same at Barcelona or Bayern Munich, the latter of whom Guardiola took over after they won the Treble.
“It would not be easy, but then Guardiola is not there to do the small jobs. He is there to make the difference between a good team and a great team.”
Scholes also commented on the future of Jurgen Klopp in his column, saying that he believes the eccentric German would be a success in the Premier League.
“There is no doubt in my mind that he [Klopp] would be a success in English football, the only question is at which club”.
Klopp surprised the footballing world this week with the announcement that he would be leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season. Since then, he has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League champions.
Who do you think is more likely to be the next Manchester City manager?
