What Txiki Begiristain’s Manchester City exit means for Pep Guardiola’s future | OneFootball

A new report has pointed towards what the impending exit of Txiki Begiristain at Manchester City means for manager Pep Guardiola and his own future.

The Spanish direct of football is expected to leave his role at the Etihad Stadium at the end of the ongoing season, having operated in the position for the last 13 years since arriving from FC Barcelona in 2012.

Having overseen a multitude of success stories in the transfer market for the club, transforming the playing squad and aiding Pep Guardiola oversee the most successful period in the club’s history, a mammoth task now begins to replace him.

One name understood to be leading the race for the position is Sporting CP’s Hugo Viana, whilst directors at FC Porto in Andoni Zubizarreta and Girona in Quique Carcel also have admirers within Manchester City.

But one question lingers in light of Begiristain’s pending exit from the club, and that is whether a long-term colleague and close friend of Pep Guardiola’s could impact his own future beyond this season.

As highlighted by The Telegraph’s James Ducker, Txiki Begiristain is ‘extremely close’ with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, both on a personal level, and professionally within the Etihad Stadium.

However, the report states that Pep Guardiola has known for a long time this decision from Begiristain was coming, and sources have also indicated it is not expected to have a significant bearing on whether the Catalan tactician stays or goes at the end of the ongoing season.

The understanding in various quarters earlier this year, as reported by City Xtra, was that Txiki Begiristain planned to leave Manchester City alongside Pep Guardiola, despite a date for that exit being unknown at the time.

For now, it is less clear whether that remains the case, and there is a growing feeling in some regions that Pep Guardiola now has a much higher chance of entering into a 10th season at the club by extending his deal beyond next summer.

There remains a long way to go before supporters can regard that as a certainty however, with Manchester City allowing Guardiola all the time to make a comfortable decision on his own future, whilst he remains tight-lipped on the matter when addressing the media.