Pep 'snubs' the Premier League for Germany

Less than 24 hours after the Football Association delivered their remarkable coup (getting Pep to say something nice about English football) Josep Guardiola was named as the permanent manager of Bayern Munich from this summer, on a three year contract.

Cue outrage from the more easily agitated red-tops in Britain, who deemed this a snub towards the English game and bewilderment from The Sun, who had reported the week before that Pep was “100%” set to take over at Manchester City. Why the games most desirable manager would choose to work for City or Chelsea, hardly an example of sporting stability, is scarcely discussed. The thought that there could be a more attractive league or club in world football is not in the lexicon of the English tabloid media, although the FifPro World XI and later UEFA XI teams of 2012, without a single representative from the Premier League, should have been an indicator of the leagues standing outside of the UK.

PEP GUARDIOLA (as the FA were keen to label him on their 150^th anniversary gala) instead decided to ply his trade in the most financially secure leagues in football, signing a three year deal, a more significant deal then he ever signed at Barcelona, where 12 month contracts were the norm. Bayern Munich may be the most financially affluent club in the Bundesliga, but their unrivalled position as the largest club in Germany and subsequent turnover means they can afford the yearly extravagance.

With Financial Fair-Play coming into effect from 2013-14, Germany’s position as an economic powerhouse, with clubs which are majority fan-owned (Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Hoffenheim aside), will become even more advantageous.

Bayern may have a team of expensively assembled stars: Arjen Robben, Mario Gomez, Manuel Neuer, Franck Ribery and Javi Martinez all cost €30 million plus, but the club has unearthed several youth team stars in club-captains Phillip Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Thomas Muller is an academy of the reserve side and Toni Kroos has been the Bavarian’s best midfielder this season, playing in a number 10 role that is fast becoming his in the national set-up.

Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng and David Alaba complete a back four which has an average age of just 24. Swiss pocket dynamo, Xherdan Shaqiri, was an excellent acquisition last summer and at just 21 is the long-term successor to Ribery or Robben, while further evidence of a flourishing academy is the progress of Emre Can, already billed as "the midfielder of the future and a jewel for Bayern Munich" by chairman Uli Hoeness.

Compared to Chelsea, whose last academy graduate to establish himself at Stamford Bridge was John Terry, you can see why the fiercely proud Catalan has opted for the Bundesliga runner-up. Guardiola is likely to want to implement the Barcelona badge of football in Germany, which could be problematic for several of the existing players. Kroos has been Bayern’s best player this season, but his position at number 10 would become obsolete in a Barcelona style 4-3-3. Mario Gomez and Mario Mandžukić likewise are not suited to a possession heavy approach and would struggle to play as a ‘false 9’ like Messi.

Manuel Neuer has fantastic football technique for a goalkeeper, so should be under little pressure and the young defence is comfortable playing out from the back, though someone of Matt Hummels passing ability would enhance the unit. Convincing Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery to track and hunt possession like a La Masia graduate could be Gurdiola’s biggest challenge. Both are characters in the dressing room, and I would not be surprised to see one of the pair leave in the summer of 2013.

Guardiola already has Javi Martinez at his disposal (a player Barcelona tried to sign last summer) who lacks the soft feet of Xavi or Iniesta, but is a player who has been part of the Spain national squad for the past four years. Sergio Busquets has been inspirational for Barcelona this campaign, and you wonder whether Guardiola will attempt to convince the player he coached with the B team with him to Germany.

On a personal level I would have enjoyed seeing Guardiola take on the challenge of re-building Milan. After a heavy exodus in the last 18 months, Milan are putting faith in several youngsters: Stephan El Shaarawy, who has been excellent, left-back Mattia De Sciglio and Kevin Prince Boateng.

The three year deal in Germany seemingly coincides with Ferguson’s likely exit, and despite expressing surprise at Pep’s move to Germany, Ferguson is good friends with the 42-year-old and is likely to express support, should Guardiola wish to test himself at Old Trafford and finally indulge the FA and British media in further hyperbole.