The minute Roberto De Matteo got sacked, every single Chelsea fan, including Abramovic, hoped they could sign Pep Guardiola to manage Chelsea. However, for a person like Guardiola – who spent an absolutely wonderful period as the manager of FC Barcelona – Chelsea might not be his next target.
Continuing an era of uncertainty, Roman Abramovic sacked Roberto De Matteo after Chelsea got eliminated from the Champions League. He hoped his wallet could be charming enough to attract Guardiola to London, but the fact remains that money cannot buy you everything – especially not Pep Guardiola.
Football rumours are funny when they link Lionel Messi to Manchester City saying they would provide him with a contract of a lifetime or when they say Sir Alex could move to a Chinese club who will promise him $1 billion a year. In football, it’s not money that matter all the time, it’s loyalty that matter; it’s your love for the club that matters, and above all, it’s the situation that matters.
When Abramovic chose Rafa Benitez as his manager, the entire social-networking world was flooded with the moans and complaints of Chelsea fans because they did remember something from the past: as the manager of Liverpool, Benitez had referred to Chelsea fans as ‘plastic fans’.
Nevertheless, Abramovic seems immovable as Benitez drew another math this week. Many think that Abramovic will soon replace Benitez with Guardiola but with a history of managers being sacked like this, Guardiola would wisely ignore any offer that Chelsea makes.
Then come the Manchester clubs. At Manchester United, there is stability, history and a lot of footballing legends in the team; something that is very similar to Barcelona.
Considering homegrown players, Barcelona played with 11 homegrown players against Levante. On the other hand, Chelsea’s only homegrown player is Ryan Bertrand and City have Micah Richards. With Manchester United, every starting line-up has homegrown players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Tom Cleverly, Ryan Tunnicliffe etc.
Other than youth academy stats, Manchester United will provide Guardiola with a very homely feeling. It has the kind of players that have been making history, that are making history and that have the potential to make history in the future.
Moreover, when Sir Alex Ferguson leaves, Manchester United will be needing a big man who could take over and who could maintain the level determined by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Will Tidey – has beautifully put this into words – saying, “Guardiola has already turned down Chelsea’s money. Turning down Ferguson’s legacy would be far harder.”
-Rida Mehtab (@RidaaMehtaab on Twitter)
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