Written by Victor Mather at the NYTimes.com
Manchester City sits in second place in the Premier League, behind only the unlikely Leicester City. The team is also in the final of the League Cup and the last 16 of the F.A. Cup and the Champions League. In theory, it could win all four trophies this season.
And yet City just gave its manager his notice.
The team announced Monday that it had signed Pep Guardiola, the man behind the tremendous success of Barcelona, and more recently Bayern Munich, to take over next season on a three-year contract. That leaves the current manager, Manuel Pellegrini, as a lame duck even as the team competes for some of the most prestigious prizes in soccer.
The club insisted in a statement that “Manuel, who is fully supportive of the decision to make this communication, is entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season ahead and retains the respect and commitment of all involved with the leadership of the club.”
Guardiola will finish out the season with Bayern before heading to Manchester.
The dismissal of Pellegrini reflects the increasing pressure for success among the superteams in Europe’s top leagues. As recently as 1999, Manchester City was in the third tier of English soccer. But after being purchased by investors from the United Arab Emirates in 2008, the team has become one of the world’s wealthiest, winning the Premier League in 2012 and 2014.
The flood of money has brought a host of world-class players to the team, but also sky-high expectations.
The Chilean veteran Pellegrini was hired in 2013 and led City to the Premier League title in his first year, then finished second to Chelsea last season. More disappointing to the owners was that the team fell in the round of 16 of the Champions League in both seasons.
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