Manchester City believe they beat United to Pep Guardiola

Manchester City believe they beat Manchester United and Chelsea to the hiring of Pep Guardiola, with the Spaniard receiving eleventh hour "overtures" from each club due to an awareness he was close to agreeing to replace Manuel Pellegrini.

Guardiola, who will replace the Chilean on July 1st to start a three-year contract, had previously been targeted by United. Alex Ferguson met the 45-year-old in September 2012 during Guardiola's sabbatical to discuss him one day becoming manager.

In the end Guardiola chose to join Bayern Munich, yet sources at City indicated that United had tried to revive the deal, with Chelsea also making overtures to the Spaniard having sacked José Mourinho at the end of last year.

As recently as December United viewed Guardiola’s favoured destination to be City, yet given the state of uncertainty over Louis van Gaal’s future at Old Trafford it is thought the executive were compelled to persuade him to change his mind.

Chelsea require a manager for next season having hired Guud Hiddink as an interim head coach for the rest of this campaign following Mourinho's departure.

Guardian Services