Pep Guardiola is a methodical man when it comes to splashing out the cash on a new player.
That’s according to Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeneß, who has shared some insight into how the 48-year-old Spanish manager handles transfers with Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour.
Speaking at a financial conference in Munich, Hoeneß said that the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager spares no expense in convincing Mansour to make an investment into a player.
“My friend Pep told me what happens when he wants a player that costs more than €100 million,” he said (via Diario AS).
“He puts some videos together of the player and goes to see the Sheikh.
“Once he is there, there is an opulent feast put on during which he teaches the videos to him and the money is transferred.
“The next day, the Sheikh rises the price of oil a little bit and recovers the money.”
Well, that’s one way of doing it, isn’t it?
Of course, it’s worth remembering that Guardiola has never made a €100m investment into a single player, but he did break City’s club-record transfer fee last year to sign Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City for a fee of £61.2m.
Guardiola, who featured in France Football’s top 50 managers of all time, was in charge of Bayern Munich from 2013 to 2016, leading the German club to three consecutive Bundesliga titles.
The City boss is still in contention of capturing a quadruple with his side this season, having already lifted the EFL Cup last month after beating Chelsea on penalties at Wembley Stadium.
The reigning Premier League champions have made it through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, following their comeback against Swansea City last week.
While City are in a heated Premier League title race with Liverpool this season, they will also face a tough test in the Champions League quarter-finals after being paired with Tottenham Hotspur.
Last week, the club’s website asked Guardiola about the possibility of winning a quadruple, but the manager had no intention of getting carried away with the thought of success in March.
“Ask me at the end of April [about quadruple] and I will answer you,” he responded.
“I want to congratulate the players and staff for being here at this stage. I am already satisfied.
“I know for the people it will be a big failure if we don’t win three or four titles, so I’m sorry!
“Now we are going to fight every game after the international break.”
sportbible.com
