Txiki Begiristain set to leave role as Manchester City director of football with replacement identified - report
Published 08/10/2024 at 19:18 GMT+1
It looks like there will be a reshuffle in the boardroom at Manchester City, with reports emerging that Txiki Begiristain will leave his role as director of football at the end of the season. Begiristain will end his time working with Pep Guardiola, and the City manager previously paid a glowing tribute to his colleague.
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Txiki Begiristain looks set to leave his role as Manchester City director of football at the end of this season.
That’s according to a report by The Athletic, which states that the Premier League champions have already made an agreement for Begiristain’s replacement to start work early next year.
After originally planning to move away from the day-to-day operations of the job at the age of 55, Begiristain decided to remain in the post until his 60th birthday.
But after reaching that milestone, it appears that there will be a new post holder in 2025, with Begiristain set to assist in a six-month handover for his successor.
No clues have surfaced concerning Begiristain's potential replacement, as he ends a 12-year spell at the club.
Begiristain has a close friendship with City manager Pep Guardiola, which began during their time as team-mates at Barcelona.
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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Pep Guardiola the head coach / manager of Manchester City poses for a photo with the trophy with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman, Ferran Soriano, chief executive officer and Aitor Txiki Begiristain, director of football at Manchester City during the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on May 19, 2024 in Manchester, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
This continued when Begiristain had a seven-year spell as Barcelona's technical director between 2003 and 2010, playing an important role in Guardiola landing his first managerial job at the Camp Nou.
Guardiola previously highlighted the significance of Begiristain's achievements at City in quotes from January this year.
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He said: "Txiki has been massively important at this club.
"He was here before I arrived and was stable in the club. He has been really important in these years and part of the enormous success we've had in terms of results and many things, he has been so important.
"I do ask him to take responsibility with the media, talk a bit, but he's so shy. He wants to be behind the scenes, so all the shots and the weapons are directed to me. But it was the same in Barcelona.”
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City have claimed seven Premier League titles, two FA Cups, six League Cups, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and a Club World Cup during his time in the north-west.
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