Big news from Germany today as Bayern Munich have announced that former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola will take over as their manager at the end of the season.
Guardiola, who has signed a three-year contract to 2016, will replace current Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes, who will retire.
“We are very pleased that we have managed to convince the football expert Pep Guardiola, who was coveted and contacted by many top clubs, to come to Bayern Munich,” Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
“He is one of the most successful coaches in the world and we are sure that he can make not just Bayern, but all of German football shine.”
The news that Guardiola has went to Bayern will be a huge disappointment to both Manchester City and Chelsea, who both have actively pursued Guardiola over the last year or so.
This is a huge coup for Bayern. They got the best manager currently available, and someone who in four years as Barca boss won 14 trophies including three La Liga titles and two Champions League wins.
Guardiola walks into a Bayern team that is currently nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, is into the last 16 of the Champions League, and has a stable organization (unlike Chelsea and Man City).
Bayern also have a terrific academy system that is similar to that at Barcelona, and they are second only to Barcelona, in terms of possession and pass completion amongst all the major leagues in Europe.
So it will be an environment that is very familiar to Guardiola, and next season it will be fascinating to see how he does in the Bundesliga with Bayern.
