It has been a somewhat eventful week at Manchester City, and now it has been reported director of football Txiki Begiristain is to leave the club next summer.
Begiristain will depart Manchester City, having first been appointed by the club back in 2012.
Fans were reacting to City’s victory against the Premier League over APT rules, before the big news about Txiki Begiristain dropped.
There have already been several suggestions about who could replace the Spaniard.
Supposedly, Hugo Viana is someone Manchester City really like. He is currently the sporting director at Portuguese giants Sporting CP.
Whoever comes in has big shoes to fill. Manchester City have had major success since Pep Guardiola’s arrival in 2016, but Txiki has been the manager’s right-hand man and ensured he’s had the tools to succeed.
One would imagine Guardiola will be sad to see him go, given what he has said about him in the past.
Pep Guardiola to lose ‘the most humble person I’ve ever met’ in Txiki Begiristain
It is no secret that Guardiola greatly admires Txiki and vice-versa.
The pair has worked together for a long time and the success of City has been clear for all to see.
In 2021, Pep said as quoted by the Manchester City official website: “One of the reasons I extended my contract two times is because Txiki is here
“We work together incredibly well. When we win, we try to analyse why. When we lose we try to analyse why. We don’t judge the other one. We both work for the best for this club.
“Above all that, he is the most humble person I ever met. He never goes to the media. Always, the success is for the other ones. He is always behind the scenes.”
Guardiola and Begiristain’s relationship dates back way before their City days.
It was thanks to Begiristain that Guardiola got his break at Barcelona, with the sporting director playing a key role in his promotion to first-team manager.
Guardiola went on to create one of the greatest club sides in football history at the Camp Nou.
Begiristain has been crucial to Man City’s success
For years Guardiola has been the face of Manchester City and the Spaniard has lapped up the plaudits – and rightly so. What he has achieved at the club has been incredible.
But the job he’s done would not have been possible without the endeavors of Txiki.
| Txiki Begiristain’s five biggest signings for Man City |
| Jack Grealish – £100m |
| Josko Gvardiol – £77.6m |
| Ruben Dias – £65m |
| Rodri – £62.5m |
| Joao Cancelo – £60m |
But a manager can only perform to the best of his ability if he has the right tools, and Guardiola has certainly been looked after during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
Txiki’s job goes beyond just sanctioning transfer deals, but his powers of persuasion and negotiation have landed Guardiola with some incredible players.
The search is now on for a successor. As well as Viana, it is thought that FC Porto’s sporting director Andoni Zubizarretta has admirers at Man City.
We will see which way the club go on this. But surely the role of sporting director at Manchester City will be massively appealing to many potential candidates.
