Former successful manager of Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, 41, has now been named as the new manager of German club Bayern Munich. There had been much speculation as to where the Spaniard may choose to coach next with plenty of talk of him moving to an English club and well as the names of AC Milan, Bayern Munich and big spenders Paris St Germain also named as possibilities. Many premier league clubs were heard to be monitoring Guardiola with Chelsea and Manchester City said to be favourites to land him. The 41 year old, born January 1971 guided Barcelona to 14 trophies in just 4 seasons, 2 of these being the champions league. In previous interviews Guardiola had spoken out about how he would be keen to start a new challenge by taking on an English club. His comments came after Jose Mourinho had already expressed his interest in a return to England  once his contract at Real Madrid had come to an end. One of Guardiola's comments quoted 'I am still young, just 41, so I hope in the future I would be able to train there and enjoy that'. He also mentioned how he had never realised his dream to play English football but he would love the challenge to be a coach in England.

Whilst speaking to Fifa's Ballon D'Or ceremony earlier on in January Guardiola stated that he wanted to return to management for the 13/14 season. Over the past few weeks there have been various rumours flying around, with the main topic being where the Spaniard may decide to manage next but it has now been announced by German club Bayern Munich that the former Barcelona boss will take over as their new manager at the end of the season when current boss Jupp Heynckes retires.

Chief executive of Munich Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has revealed how pleased the club are with the result and went on to say that they were surprised as there were so many top football clubs chasing the Spaniard. He quoted 'He is one of the most successful coaches in the world and we are sure that he can make not just Bayern, but all of German football shine'. Bayern's current boss Jupp Heynckes made it clear at Christmas time that he did not want to extend his current contract with the club and now his contract will expire on 30 June with Guardiola set to take over the following day. Bayern are currently doing remarkably well being 9 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table and are due to face Premier League side Arsenal next month in the Champions league. We wish Pep Guardiola well in his new challenge and hope the German side will keep up their superb form next season.

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