On February 1st, Manchester City finally made the secret announcement that the entire football world already knew: Pep Guardiola would be taking over from Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the campaign. The Bayern Munich boss is widely regarded as the greatest manager in the sport and City will fancy their chances of winning the Premier League title in Guardiola’s first season at the Etihad Stadium.
At the time of writing, City are priced at 13/8 with Betway to win the title next season but Guardiola has plenty of work to do if he is to transform this current side into world beaters. Whilst they reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history this season, City have failed to inspire confidence for the majority of the campaign.
But Pep can turn their fortunes around. Guardiola has a superb domestic record, winning six titles in seven years as a manager. And while England’s top flight is a different kettle of fish to both La Liga and the Bundesliga, City supporters will still be confident that Guardiola is the man to take the Blues to the next level – both domestically and in Europe.
If City are going to win the title, they will need to make moves in the transfer window. For starters, the Blues are almost certainly going to sell Yaya Toure. The Ivory Coast international has been a fantastic servant to the club but his days at the Etihad look numbered – especially as Guardiola sold Toure to City when he was manager of Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Pep will most likely want to bring a few players into the club this summer as well. City are in desperate need of a commanding centre-half to play alongside Vincent Kompany and the Blues have been linked with moves for Germany international Toni Kroos and Juventus star Paul Pogba.
Both players will be in action for their respective nations at the European Championship this summer and Guardiola will be keeping a close eye on their performances. Pogba is set to play a key role for France this summer and the odds over at Betway look promising on Didier Deschamps’ men to win the competition at 100/30.
Many will expect Guardiola to make an immediate impact at City and the Spaniard will be under pressure from the outset. However, if there’s anyone capable of defying the odds and leading City to greatness, it’s Pep. And if nothing else, delivering City’s third Premier League title in six years will be the perfect way to begin his career at the Etihad.