Rumours are surfacing that former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola is in talks with AC Milan about replacing current manager Massimiliano Allegri.
Guardiola is living in New York during his one year sabbatical from football. He of course was brilliant atBarcelona where he won three La Liga titles and two European Cups in four seasons.
AC Milan a miserable summer, offloading many of Milan’s veterans as well as their two best players. The result has been a dreadful start to their Serie A season, with Milan currently in 11th place in the table with just seven points from as many games.
Reports in Italy say that Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has sent team vice president Adriano Galliani to New York to meet with Guardiola this weekend. At the meeting Galliani is said the be willing to offer Guardiola a four-year contract worth around £25m to take over at the San Siro. There are also suggestions that Guardiola could be assisted by the Milan legend Paolo Maldini.
Guardiola’s former mentor at Italian side Brescia, Carlo Mazzone, has been quoted as saying a move to Italy for the former Barcelona manager is likely.
“I would be very happy if Pep returned to Italy. Where could he go? Milan or Inter, there isn’t exactly a vast choice. He has had his time in Spain and I think he could come here, though I don’t know whether it’ll be in a day, a year or five years,” he told MilanNews.it.
One of the challenges to hiring Guardiola now is that it is mid-season and by all indications Guardiola would prefer to not have to move his family again before next summer.
“A problem Guardiola might have with Milan would be the requests for players. In any case, from what I’ve read he will stay out of football for a year and let us not forget he has other commitments in his life, like being a father with a young family.”
There is no doubt that Guardiola is the best manager in the world. His record at Barcelona proves that. So it is no surprise then to see his name linked with any opening or struggling team.
But why would he want to manage AC Milan, a club with financial problems and a lack of talent? Yes, they have a great history, but they are a club on the decline. They are years away from challenging the best teams in Europe for the Champions League trophy.
That is why I expect Guardiola to end up in England where someone like Roman Abramovich will spend the money to bring in world class players.
Who do you think Pep Guardiola will end up managing?
