Manchester City confirmed Monday that Manchester United and Chelsea target Pep Guardiola would be taking over managerial duties from Manuel Pellegrini once the summer rolls around. Guardiola, currently running the show at Bayern Munich, comes in with a three-year deal.
Pellegrini is expected to vacate the top spot for the Blues on June 30.
According to the club's statement announcing the move, Pellegrini, 62, is "fully supportive" of the move, but "entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season ahead."
The statement also made clear that Guardiola was initially targeted in 2012, when Roberto Mancini was the City boss. Pellegrini took over for Mancini in 2013 and promptly led Manchester City to Premier League and League Cup victories.
Pellegrini has every possibility for going out on top with City, as they are through to the final of the League Cup and have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League.
As for Guardiola, his allure is self-evident. He's lost only 19 of his 239 games as a manger. He oversaw Barcelona's most successful run of sustained success, winning 14 trophies in four years, which included three La Liga titles and two Champions League.
In two full seasons with Bayern, he's won the league twice and has expressed hope that he will be able to go out on top.
"Winning the Champions League would make my time here complete," he said previously, per BBC.
