A striker signed by Pep Guardiola – that is a rare sight. He has been the leading manager of his generation, winning a plethora of trophies in the process and Spaniard’s commitment to ‘tiki-taka’ and relying on a bunch of technically proficient and interchangeable attacking midfielders leads everyone to believe he does not need a classic striker. That is why it would be something of an oddity if Erling Haaland signs for the Etihad club.Guardiola inherited some great forwards that have flourished under him, such as Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. But signing a ‘regular’ no.9 and using one week in and week out in a conventional way is not something Pep nurtures. When you look at his teams, it is the wingers and the attacking midfielders that take the center stage – think of Phil Foden, Bernando Silva and Raheem Sterling at City for example.Manchester City bosses are the best salesmen on the planetThe Norwegian has been heavily linked with a summer move to Manchester City and Haaland would surely be a success at the Etihad but it’d be a departure from what we’ve come to expect from Guardiola.For the sake of analysis and maybe trying to predict how Haaland could manage with the Cityzens, we should take a look at how forwards that Guardiola brought to clubs he managed – performed under his guidance. Let’s start with the only striker Guardiola has signed at Manchester City, Gabriel Jesus. He joined from Palmeiras in January 2017 as a replacement for Sergio Aguero. But it did not go as everyone expected – Aguero maintained his status as City’s main man until leaving the club in 2021 while Jesus stayed in sort of background. The Brazilian hasn’t been quite as good as we all hoped but has still been a fundamental part of all City’s successes under Guardiola. In 244 appearances for the club, Jesus scored 88 goals and won three EFL Cups, one FA Cup and three Premier League titles.Fri 22:30: (2.75) Ghana (2.75) Nigeria (3.00)A different story and a rarity in Guardiola’s management of strikers – Robert Lewandowski. While working at Bayern, the Spaniard signed Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund and pretty much let the Pole do his thing. The Poland captain scored 67 goals in 100 games under Guardiola and has gone on to break all kinds of goalscoring records in the Bundesliga, establishing himself as arguably the best striker in world football.It’s safe to say that Pep got this one right. Of course, Lewandowski did not play against Guardiola’s philosophy and was versatile enough to make the most of their time together at Allianz Arena.Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) v WolfsburgDown 1-0 at half time, Guardiola responded by making a double substitution, including marksman Lewandowski. By the 60th minute, Bayern led 5-1. Guess who scored all 5.pic.twitter.com/mZIN655FD1— Top Bins Talk (@TopBinsTalk) April 26, 2020 Similarly successful was David Villa, when Guardiola managed his beloved Barcelona. The difference between Villa and Lewandowski is kind of obvious with the Spanish striker being more prone to moving to the sides of the box while Lewa almost always sticks to the classic-spear-head-striker policy.Back in the day, Villa had just lifted the World Cup with Spain, scoring five goals in South Africa, when Guardiola swooped to sign him from Valencia for close to 45 million USD. Villa was a key part of Guardiola producing what may well be the greatest club side of all-time with scoring 23 goals in the 2010-11 campaign (they won La Liga, reached the Copa del Rey final and conquered the Champions League). Injuries stopped Villa from being an even bigger legend of the Camp Nou club but it is fair to say he is one of Guardiola’s best-ever acquisitions.But that sums up all the successful striker signings for Guardiola. Names such as Alexis Sanchez or Zlatan Ibrahimovic bring back the debate that Pep is not a manager that would focus his playing style on the player in front. The Chile international had a mixed time after arriving from Udinese, he scored 15 goals during the 2011-12 season and stayed for two further years after Guardiola’s departure before Barca sold him to Arsenal and replaced him with Luis Suarez. Constant ups and downs stood in the way of Sanchez becoming a bigger cog in Guardiola’s machine. Which is strange because Alexis’ posture, movement and versatility would be enough to assure you he would do well under Pep. But – it just wasn’t meant to be.🗣️ — David Villa: “When I arrived at Barça, I was moving to the left and it was not just being there to finish, unlike how I used to play. I had to do other things and it was difficult. Guardiola and my teammates helped me a lot move to a position I had never played in before.” pic.twitter.com/JISflxFR7T— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) April 27, 2020 As far as the Swede star goes, it was obvious there is no chemistry between the confident showman and the tactics-obsessed manager. In the summer of 2009, Guardiola paid 78 million USD and Samuel Eto’o to acquire Ibrahimovic and despite things initially going well for Ibra at Barca (scored seven goals in his first seven league games), he quickly clashed with Guardiola and was unhappy at the ‘preferential treatment’ Messi received from the manager.The Sweden international found the environment stifling and thought Barca’s stars were far too scared to stand up to the club’s former midfielder, saying: “When Guardiola spoke they would just sit there and nod. Like schoolboys in front of the teacher.”Writing in his autobiography, he added: “When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari, you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway and you step on the gas.“Guardiola filled up with diesel and took a spin in the countryside. He should have bought a Fiat.”There were sighs of relief all around Camp Nou when Zlatan moved to AC Milan after a single season in Spain. Focusing on Messi rather than Ibra saw the Argentine’s goals tally rocket as he became the most idolized player on the planet. Needless to say – Ibrahimovic has never forgiven Guardiola for how he managed the situation.Xavi’s magic and the transformation of BarcelonaOne of Guardiola’s biggest ‘flops’ when it comes to signings strikers was Keirrison. Who? Yup, a forgotten Brazilian who never even got a chance to impose himself to broader masses while being a member of the Blaugrana. After ‘seeing’ the 20-year-old score 89 goals in 158 games for Palmeiras and Coritiba, Guardiola signed him in 2009. Expectations were high but the Spanish manager showed little interest in developing Keirrison – the forward was sent out on loan first at Benfica and then Fiorentina where he struggled to make much of an impression before heading back to Brazil. He failed to make a single appearance for Barcelona.
