• Premier League

Pep Guardiola: I could see myself coaching United

Pep Guardiola would like to one day follow in Sir Alex Ferguson's footsteps and manage Manchester United, according to a new book.

Marti Perarnau, author of Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich, writes that Guardiola told his personal assistant Manel Estiarte of his interest in United in 2011.

"It was May 4, and the pair sat together in the stands of Old Trafford watching Sir Alex Ferguson's team beat Schalke 4-1. Pep turned to his friend and said: 'I like this atmosphere. I could see myself coaching here one day'.

The inside story

'Pep Confidential' cover image © Back Page Press

• In an exclusive extract from Marti Perarnau's book, we go inside the huddle ahead of Bayern's 2013 European Super Cup penalties win over Chelsea to find out how Guardiola outsmarted Mourinho - thanks to water polo.
  
  Click here to read the full story
  
  Fast forward a year and Pep would suffer the worst night of his managerial career - a Champions League thumping at the hands of Real Madrid.
  
  Click here to read another exclusive extract at ESPNFC.com

"Guardiola has always felt a deep admiration, almost veneration, for the legendary teams and players of Europe."

Louis van Gaal, the man currently in charge at United, was Guardiola's manager when the two were at Barcelona as player and coach. Guardiola went on to manage Barcelona five years after the Dutchman had left the Nou Camp.

Guardiola then met with Ferguson in New York City at the halfway point of the 2013-14 campaign, after Guardiola had moved on from Barcelona.

At the time, there was speculation that Ferguson told Guardiola of his plans to leave Manchester United at the end of the season, but that was never confirmed.

"During his sabbatical year in New York, the job offers poured in," Perarnau wrote. "His ex-colleague, Txiki Begiristain, the director of football at Manchester City, was very insistent.

"He also met up in Paris with Roman Abramovich, who was prepared to do anything to lure Pep to Chelsea.

"Bayern, too, were anxious to register an early interest and a delegation from Munich attended Pep's last game with Barca, the final of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao in Madrid on May 25, 2012. In the event, the Bayern delegation did not get a chance speak to Guardiola, but they made their interest clear during a meeting with his agent. Within a few months, Pep had chosen Bayern.

This news comes a little late for Old Trafford's top brass, who reportedly made efforts to bring Guardiola over from Bayern Munich after they sacked David Moyes towards the end of the 2013-14 Premier League campaign.

When asked in April about an Old Trafford move, Guardiola said: "I am here. I am at Bayern and I want to stay two more years here."

That timing would take Guardiola to the end of his current contract with Bayern in 2016. Van Gaal's contract with Manchester United goes until the end of 2017, so even if there was interest, the move couldn't happen unless the Dutchman was let go or resigned.

United tried to tempt Pep Guardiola to Old Trafford after the sacking of David Moyes © Getty Images

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