Manchester City are not losing any time after the announcement that the long-serving sporting director Txiki Begiristain will leave the club. After all, his decision was known to the top executives long before it became a public news, so finding his replacement has begun even before the offical press release. So far, different papers give different names and we have three of them, but in the near future, some others might come up too. Off course, all three speak Spanish. 🚨🔵 EXCLUSIVE: Sporting director of football Hugo Viana is Manchester City’s favorite candidate to replace Txiki Begiristain.After excellent work at Sporting with several top signings including Gyokeres, Diomandé, Hjulmand and more, he’s top of #MCFC list as new director. pic.twitter.com/SUfIp0WnLI— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 8, 2024 According to Fabrizio Romano, the club has set its sights on Sporting Lisbon’s sporting director, Hugo Viana. The former Portuguese national team and Newcastle midfielder has held this role in Lisbon since 2018 and is considered the main reason why ‘the Lions‘ currently have the best squad in Portugal and are on solid financial ground. Viana is responsible for recruiting key players in the current lineup under coach Rúben Amorim, such as Viktor Gyökeres, Ousmane Diomande, Morten Hjulmand, and many others. With Viana at the club, Sporting has won two league titles, managing to outshine both Porto and Benfica.Man City’s ‘key man’ leaves Etihad at the end of the season‘The Times’ and ‘The Telegraph’ however have other candidates. For them the priority option would be a man from ‘within‘: Quique Cárcel. Former Barcelona youth player is current Girona‘s sporting director and the Spanish club just finished the season as third in La Liga. Apart from that, Girona belongs to the ‘City Group‘ and Carcel would not change the firm, just the building. The other candidate is another former Barcelona player, but he is a legend – Andoni Zubizarreta. Once a great goalkeeper, he actually was the one who took over from Txiki Begiristain when he left the sporting direction of Barcelona in June 2010. The only problem with Zubizarreta is that he is currently at Porto as the right-hand man of the recently appointed president of the ‘dragons’ André Villas-Boas.City write to all Premier League clubs regarding panel’s decisionTxiki Begiristain will leave the club at the end of the season, after 12 years at the Etihad. He joined the club in 2012 in a move that reunited him with City’s CEO, Ferran Soriano, with whom he had worked during his time at Barcelona. After Pep Guardiola took over City in 2016, he emphasized Begiristain’s role in bringing him to the club. It remains to be seen whether Begiristain’s departure will lead to other changes, including whether the Catalan coach will soon decide to move on from the Etihad as well. So far, all signs point to Pep leaving the club in May 2025. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8401625##
