Well the news that some Arsenal fans were hoping would be about us rather than our Premier League rivals Manchester City has been confirmed today. The final day of the January transfer window may have been a bit underwhelming so far but the confirmation from Man City that Pep Guardiola will be their manager next season has certainly livened it up.
The Sky Sports report which gave out the news also revealed that the Bayern Munich boss was close to taking over at the Etihad Stadium in 2012 after he had stepped down after leading former club Barcelona to the most successful period in their history.
I was certainly hoping that Arsenal might be in with a chance of persuading the Spaniard to take over from Arsene Wenger with the Frenchman ending his contract a year early but that is not to be. So with Guardiola’s record and reputation it looks even more like this season is the best chance Wenger will have to win the Premier League again.
And I wonder if this announcement of a change at the top could affect the Man City players over the latter stages of the current campaign. There is a theory that this sort of thing can have a negative effect on team spirit and morale, despite the fact that the statement from City denies that this will happen.
The official confirmation read, “Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalised contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head Coach for the 2016/17 EPL season onwards.
“The contract is for three years. These negotiations were a re-commencement of discussions that were curtailed in 2012.
“Out of respect for Manuel Pellegrini and the players, the club wishes to make its decision public to remove the unnecessary burden of speculation.
“Manuel, who is fully supportive of the decision to make this communication, is entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season ahead and retains the respect and commitment of all involved with the leadership of the club.”
So Gooners, how do you think this news will affect the title race, if at all?