Manchester City have already met Jurgen Klopp to assess him for the manager’s job – but it was back in 2013 when they were seeking a replacement for Roberto Mancini.
Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football met the Borussia Dortmund manager and concluded that he was not the right fit for City – and the club went on to appoint Manuel Pellegrini.
Begiristain’s meeting and rejection of Klopp back in 2013 adds weight to the growing evidence that Klopp will not get the Manchester City job even though the Borussia Dortmund manager quit this week, fuelling a wave of speculation about which Premier League clubs might want to appoint him this summer.
Pellegrini’s position is clearly vulnerable given City’s failures this year on all fronts – in the Champions League, which was the principal target, the Premier League and the domestic cups.
However, there is an insistence at the club that it should be not be automatically assumed that Pellegrini will be dismissed as, unlike when Mancini went, the club is running smoothly off the pitch without the internal tensions and disagreements which characterised Mancini’s last days.
There will be the usual end-of-season review of the manager’s performance but this would take place every season, whatever success or not had been achieved.
Pellegrini will clearly have to answer difficult questions about the team’s under performance, especially as they have sunk to fourth place and run the risk of being overhauled by Liverpool for the Champions League.
However, Begiristain would also expect to answer questions about the recruitment of players last summer such as Eliaquim Mangala for £35million and Fernando for £13m, neither of whom has made an impact.
On the plus side for Pellegrini, his style of play is seen as compatible with the type of club Begiristain and his colleague, chief executive Ferran Soriano, are attempting to create.
Both are former executives at Barcelona, where possession football and a strong academy were integral to the Catalan club and are now central to their vision City.
Klopp’s counter attacking football does not fit their philosophy and there was also a sense that his exuberant personality would not be the type of manager for which City were looking in 2013.
However, despite the club’s reassurances about Pellegrini, it is clear that his position will be under threat if not this summer then certainly next year, when Pep Guardiola’s three-year deal with Bayern runs out.
If City do decide to make the change this summer, Rafa Benitez will be avaible when he leaves Napoli, where is challenging for a Champions League place, the Europa League and the Coppa Italia, and would be a strong candidate.
But Guardiola clearly remains the favourite to take over when he has finished at Bayern. Begiristain was central in Guardiola’s appointment to Barcelona in 2008, a move which was considered a huge risk at the time but which paid extraordinary dividends as Barca won two Champions League trophies, three La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey twice under Guardiola.
Begiristain’s faith in Guardiola when his only previous experience was with the Barcelona B team is why Patrick Vieira, City’s academy manager, has become a contender to take over should Pellegrini leave.
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