Shocking exchange of managers to happen in summer – Man City manager confirms Guardiola will take over Man City & will manage Chelsea
Chelsea have appointed manager Guus Hiddink on a short-term basis, but the hunt for the long term candidate is still on. The London club are expected to make a long-term appointment and reports in Spain have thrown an interesting candidate into the mix.
According to Radio COPE, Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini, along with Italian national manager Antonio Conte, are the frontrunners for the Blues job. The Chilean manager is expected to make way for Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola in the summer, and the Chelsea board wants to take charge of the Blues.
Pellegrini has previously managed the likes of Villarreal and Real Madrid in the past. Incidentally, the Chilean made way for Jose Mourinho when he took charge of Real Madrid. Pellegrini has won two Premier League titles with City, but his continuous failure to meet City’s owners’ expectations in Champions League have led the City board to search for his replacement.
Guardiola today announced that he will be quitting his job with the Bundesliga champions in the summer and City are currently the favourites to land the Spaniard.
Even the recent comments from Pellegrini haven’t helped with the speculation regarding Guardiola’s move to Etihad Stadium. The Chilean admitted that Guardiola would be welcome at Etihad Stadium in future. “I hope he will have the option to work at Manchester City,” Pellegrini said of Guardiola.
“I say that because I love this club, and I hope, in the future, he can work here also. I am sure that he will be very important for the club. A lot of things will happen in the future. But when is the future? You never know. It might be next year. But I don’t worry. The only thing I am worried about is this year, trying to win the most amount of trophies I can.”
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte has helped Juventus to three Serie A titles before taking charge of the Italian national team. He could be available for appointment following the summer’s Euro Cup.