Pep Guardiola tells us what we already know

It was probably the biggest open secret in World Football but this Afternoon Pep Guardiola has announced his intention to manage in England once he leaves Bayern Munich at the end of the season. The 44 year old will now officially start a 3 way race for his services but the Million Dollar Question is where does Guardiola go next.

The 3 suitors will be both Manchester Clubs and current champions Chelsea. Only it’s not just as easy as slotting into a job straight away. It would be easiest for Guardiola to walk into the Stamford Bridge hotseeat as Guus Hiddink is currently keeping it warm but will Guardiola have the desire to manage to Chelsea?

As for Manchester being the next port of call well they already have managers in charge so it’s not a case of saying “I will manage you next” the owners of both City and United will have to act clever if they are going to get Guardiola in and not make a mess of their respective managerial situations.

For United the pressure is on Louis Van Gaal although it would have slightly eased over the weekend thanks to win at home to Swansea there is the added twist of a certain Jose Mourinho waiting in the wings and ready to take over if and possibly when Van Gaal gets given the sack.

This poses another question for the United upper echelons do they try and court Guardiola and run the prospect of upsetting Mourinho or do they concede defeat and puts all their eggs into the Mourinho based basket. Will they feel the need to act first in this game of managerial musical chairs

As for City, Manuel Pellegrini is in a slightly cooler hotseat but the pressure is still on for him to deliver and it seems at the moment as if he is almost a dead man walking. They currently sit 3rd in the table albeit 3 points off the top but failure to win the league and the lack of European success to match the level of investment may bring the end of the Chilean’s Etihad tenure come the end of the season.

Even if Pellegrini was to mastermind his second title and City’s 3rd in 5 seasons it might not even be enough to keep him in the job, the owners may feel they have to strike while the iron is hot and get Guardiola in when they have a perfect opportunity and not lose him to someone else especially their nearest domestic rivals.

A complete left field suggestion could be what if Arsenal deliver their first league title since 2004, would Arsene Wenger then feel that this is the right time to move upstairs and that Guardiola would be the right man to continue what Wenger has built over all these years. The outside chance but certainly don’t rule it out.

I think as it stands the smart money is on Manchester City but there is going to be a lot of claim and counter claim over the next 5-6 months a lot will depend on how the rest of the season pans out but one for certain is that it’s going to fill a lot of column inches up to and when a decision is finally made.