Pep Guardiola sends message to Manchester City Director amid exit rumours

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has sent a message of thanks to the club’s Director of Football, Txiki Begiristain.

The 59-year-old has been credited with playing a pivotal role in Manchester City’s remarkable successes, and helped the club appoint manager Pep Guardiola, who moved to the Etihad Stadium from Bayern Munich in 2016.

Manchester City have won five Premier League titles in six years, and lifted a maiden UEFA Champions League title in June, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul, to complete an historic treble.

The Blues have won 15 trophies under the management of the Catalan, and the squad possessed by Guardiola is largely down to recruitment, spearheaded by Manchester City’s Director of Football, Txiki Begiristain.

Begiristain oversaw the arrival of four new first-team players during the recent summer transfer window; with Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes and Jeremy Doku all moving to the Etihad Stadium.

The latter was directly involved in five of Manchester City’s six goals during Saturday’s 6-1 thrashing of Bournemouth in the Premier League, with Doku having made an impressive start to life in England, after signing from Rennes for £55.5 million.

Doku has been involved in seven goals in eight Premier League appearances, and also scored in the UEFA Champions League victory against RB Leipzig in Germany, last month.

The Belgium international arrived amid the exits of treble-winning pair Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer, but has enjoyed an incredible start to the campaign with the Blues.

After an emphatic victory over Bournemouth, Guardiola credited Begiristain for the signing of the 21-year-old star.

“Txiki [Begiristain], again, made an incredible action bringing Jeremy Doku here,” said Guardiola.

“I think he’s happy, hopefully he can be [at Manchester City] for many, many years!”

The long-term future of Begiristain has recently been subject to speculation, with suggestions that the Director of Football could look to leave the club at the same time as Guardiola, who is contracted until 2025.