Pep Guardiola inherited a perfect, treble-winning Bayern Munich side from Jupp Heynckes and with a Champions League exit looming, the team appears to have gone backwards since the Spaniard's takeover.
Our #360debate today is: Should Guardiola quit Bayern Munich for Manchester City?
Alam Khan, Reporter, thinks YES.
Ever since Manchester City brought on board Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, there has been constant talk that Guardiola will eventually join his old Barcelona executives at the Etihad. The trio helped shape the Spanish side as the very best, unrivalled and unstoppable.
That’s what City want to be and why they will pursue Guardiola should they part company with Manuel Pellegrini. And he should go because there could be no better time to take over at City.
A season without a major trophy has highlighted a clear need for change in personnel and big spending to bring glory. There will be resources, and even more so with the benefits of the new Premier League TV deal, to pursue moves for Paul Pogba and Kevin de Bruyne – players to perhaps build a team around.
Barcelona are the benchmark and there is no one who knows what made that club great better than Guardiola. Of course, Lionel Messi makes a helluva difference. But should his old coach join City and with funds available, then perhaps the Argentine might fancy a new challenge.
City, though, do not need a major overhaul and, in striker Sergio Aguero, they have a potential world No1.
Guardiola may well relish the opportunity to take him to greater heights.
He won’t want to leave Bayern as a failure, but he is on a hiding to nothing after a season where they should have done better.
The pressure will only intensify and another league title and German Cup will not be enough. Winning the Champions League has to be their sole target. At City, they will be patient for him to prove his worth and create a new legacy.
James Piercy, Deputy Editor, thinks NO.
Just 18 days ago, Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claimed Pep Guardiola was on the verge of signing a contract extension at the Allianz Arena. Less than three weeks later and it appears he is seriously considering, if not already decided, to pursue a new challenge with Manchester City.
During this period, Bayern have lost four of six games, most notably the 3-0 defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final first leg. However, surely four indifferent results cannot ruin the previous 22 months of work in Bavaria by the 44-year-old. Guardiola can’t have lost his own will or the faith of his bosses.
Guardiola signed a contract until 2016 for good reason. That was the timeframe he outlined to take Jupp Heynckes’ ridiculously successful team and remould them into something of his own.
There was also the matter of establishing a European dominance akin to what he achieved between 2008-2012. He’s fallen short on that front and although he has the chance to rectify it tomorrow night, the odds are Bayern will be disappointed once again.
But walking away now will represent a failure. Because the manner at which Bayern would have been eliminated from Europe and an admission his three-year plan hasn’t worked. Bayern are an ageing team but they have huge financial capabilities and with him at the club, have the pick of many of Europe’s finest.
Quitting would make his time in Germany feel unfinished and unfulfilled.
There’s also the matter of what’s lurking in the English top flight. Before Guardiola has even set foot inside a Premier League dugout, he’s had to read unnecessary barbs from Jose Mourinho, criticising him taking the easy way out by moving to Bayern in 2013.
A large motivating factor why Guardiola left Barcelona was his feud with Mourinho when he was with Madrid. In the story-hungry land of the Premier League, where narrative is often more interesting than fact, managerial bust-ups are relished. That’s not to say he would be ducking a challenge but it brought so much misery in La Liga, why go through it all again?
