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BERLIN. – Pep Guardiola will leave Bayern Munich as head coach at the end of the season and be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed yesterday.
“We appreciate everything Guardiola gave to our club and hope to celebrate a lot of success this season, especially as we know now he is leaving,” Rummenigge said in a club statement.
“Carlo Ancelotti has had a lot of success as coach and has won the Champions League three times.
“He is a calm, balanced professional who can deal with stars and lets you play a flexible style of football – we have found what we were looking for.
“With Ancelotti, we have a new, successful trainer for Bayern. We are looking forward to working together.”
The 56-year-old Ancelotti will bring a wealth of experience to Bayern having won the Champions League twice with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007, then with Real Madrid in 2014.
“It’s a great honour for me that I will be trainer of such a great club as FC Bayern next season,” said Ancelotti, who has signed a three-year contract until 2019, in a club statement.
Having joined Bayern in 2013 to much fanfare, Guardiola has so far won five titles with the Bavarian giants, giving him a career total of 19 as coach following his 14 titles in four years from 2008-2012 at Barcelona.
Guardiola flew home to Spain yesterday and has given no indication of his future plans, but has been heavily linked to Manchester City.
A Thomas Mueller penalty on Saturday sealed Bayern’s 1-0 win at Hanover 96 which left the German league leaders eight points clear in the table and on course to become the first club to win a fourth straight Bundesliga.
Guardiola’s side are currently on course to repeat their 2013 treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup and will face last season’s finalists Juventus in the last 16 of Europe’s premier club competition.
Guardiola’s tenure at Bayern is likely to be judged on his Champions League form as he bids to reach the final in Milan on May 28 having exited at the semi-final stage the last two seasons.
Having won the Champions League in 2009 and 2011 with Barcelona he has so far failed to bring Europe’s top domestic prize back to Munich.
Guardiola’s departure was widely expected with several top Premier League clubs reportedly interested in the 44-year-old former Barcelona coach, who had won 14 titles in four years at the Spanish club.
Guardiola has not revealed where his next destination will be.
Chelsea sacked Mourinho on Thursday and have appointed Guus Hiddink until the end of the season, while Guardiola has been strongly linked with taking over from City boss Manuel Pellegrini in the summer.
United boss Louis van Gaal is also under pressure following his side’s recent slump in form, which has seen them exit the Champions League at the group stages and lose to Norwich on Saturday.
Guardiola took over after Bayern’s 2012-13 treble-winning season and consolidated their domestic dominance with back-to-back league titles and a German Cup in his first two seasons in charge.
But he has yet to lead them to the Champions League title with Bayern losing at the semi-final stage on their previous two attempts.
Bayern are top of the league this season and through to the Champions League knockout stage and can still win the treble.
Ancelotti is a three-time Champions League winner and has also won a string of domestic titles with AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris St Germain, Juventus and Real Madrid, his most recent appointment.
“I am very honoured that I will be the coach of the big FC Bayern Munich from next season,” Ancelotti said.
And Manuel Pellegrini believes Guardiola is the perfect boss for Manchester City and that it’s only a matter of time before the most coveted coach in football takes on the challenge of the Premier League.
In an astonishingly honest admission that could have ramifications on his own future at the Etihad club, the 62-year-old Chilean says that he would LOVE to see Guardiola take charge of the Blues one day.
Pellegrini is adamant that he isn’t ready to wave the white flag on his own reign just yet, with 18 months still left on his contract and City still chasing four trophies this season. But, with Guardiola set to leave German giants Bayern Munich in the summer, he admitted: “I am sure that the important managers always want to work here in the Premier League.
“It is impossible not to want to work here – especially if you have experience of working in other leagues.
“So, Pep Guardiola will work here. I don’t know if it will be next season here at City, or even at another club, but I am sure that one day he will come to the Premier League. And I hope he will have the option to work at Manchester City.
“I say that because I love this club and I hope, in the future, he can work here also. I am sure that he will be very important for the club. A lot of things will happen in the future. But when is the future? You never know. It might be next year. But I don’t worry. The only thing I am worried about is this year, trying to win the most amount of trophies I can.” – AFP.
Online Reporter