Manuel Pelligrini spoke to BBC Sport about his career while on Real Betis‘ pre-season tour to San Diego and how he knew Manchester City had a different idea for who they wanted as manager.
“I knew before I signed they wanted Pep Guardiola. [Sporting director] Txiki [Begiristain] and [chief executive] Ferran Soriano had worked with him at Barcelona,” said Pellegrini.
“They talked with me three or four months before and said they were going for Pep, but if Pep wasn’t going to be their coach, I was.
“Pep then went to Bayern Munich. I worked there for three years and changed the style of [Roberto] Mancini, which is what they wanted, and they were successful.
“It is not the same Manchester City as it is today. In the first year we bought players, but in the second we couldn’t improve the team because we had a Uefa punishment. The third year we improved with Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne.
“After that, Manchester City continued investing a lot of money in good players to get a better team. Maybe today, with Real Madrid, they are one of the two best teams in the world.
“I didn’t have a problem to leave. I knew they would continue growing because they are very ambitious and know how to develop football.
“When you work with Txiki and Ferran, you know they will not fire you because of a couple of results. I knew I would finish my contract. They give you a lot of security.
“The club continued to grow and is still growing. After I had important offers – especially in Italy – but for different reasons I couldn’t do it. Three years in Manchester was enough.”
Read Pellegrini’s full interview here
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