Pep: Why Txiki is key to success at Blues
the best teams of all time and now what he has done here, working here for these years, always he is behind the scenes.
“He always gives the credit to the players, to the managers, to the chairman, to the CEO but he is always there.
“That’s why it is a pleasure to work with him because I can do my job completely free, accepting the good moments and bad moments.
“In the bad moments, he is closer than ever and in the good moments we celebrate with a glass of wine. That’s why it is a joy to work here with people like Txiki.”
Having a competent football director with extensive football knowledge and who was brought up with the same philosophy as the manager is one reason City have been streets ahead of neighbours United in the last five years.
Guardiola and Begiristain trust each other implicitly and know that their fates are intertwined.
“It’s almost 30 years since we met each other,” said the Blues boss. “We played together, we had a relationship as manager and sporting director in Barcelona.
“He trusted me as a manager when I wasn’t anyone in world football, training in the fourth division and he trusted me when he could choose many incredible managers at that time. My gratitude will be eternal. Without him I would not be here and he showed me especially in the bad moments who he is.”
But it is not just his support for the manager that sets Begiristain apart Guardiola says he can take plenty of credit for the emergence of Phil Foden, and the current crop of Cole Palmer and James McAtee, into the first-team squad.
“Man City is incredibly lucky to have this person, how settled, thinking about the academy and supporting (academy head) Jason Wilcox.
“I see many things behind the scenes and know exactly what he is doing for the club and he never puts himself in front. That is the ideal situation when a sporting director trusts the manager.
“He knows and I know that if we don’t win he will be sacked and I will be sacked, but until that moment the sporting director has to support the manager in everything because after that the players know it, the people know it and there is not a bad influence from external to internal positions and this is so, so important.”