Pep Guardiola to replace Manuel Pellegrini as Man City boss

Pep Guardiola has signed a three-year contract to become Manchester City’s manager, taking over from Manuel Pellegrini after the end of the current season.

Guardiola is currently in charge of Bayern Munich after leaving Barcelona in 2012 where he enjoyed a stellar coaching career.

A club statement from Manchester City, released on February 1^st 2016, confirmed the widespread rumor to ‘remove the unnecessary burden of speculation’ and went ahead to clarify that the 62-year-old Chilean was ‘fully supportive’ of the club’s decision to announce the club’s new Head Coach.

“Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalised contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head Coach for the 2016/17 EPL season onwards.

The contract is for three years. These negotiations were a re-commencement of discussions that were curtailed in 2012.

Out of respect for Manuel Pellegrini and the players, the Club wishes to make its decision public to remove the unnecessary burden of speculation.

Manuel, who is fully supportive of the decision to make this communication, is entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season ahead and retains the respect and commitment of all involved with the leadership of the Club,” read the statement.

Manuel Pellegrini has won 64 of his 99 Premier League games as a manager, a record only eclipsed by Jose Mourinho, who won 73 of his opening 99 league matches as Chelsea boss.

Prior to the announcement, Guardiola had himself declared in a press conference he would be moving to the Premier League but did not mention the club. He has won 105, drawn 15 and lost 17 of the 137 games in all competitions as Bayern Coach, winning 2 Bundesliga titles, 1 DFB-Pokal, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.