Sporting CP director of football Hugo Viana is the top target for Manchester City to replace the departing Txiki Begiristain.
According to Fabrizio Romano on Caught Offside, Manchester City may have identified their top target to replace the outgoing Txiki Begiristain. The Premier League giants reportedly want Sporting CP’s director of football, Hugo Viana, with contacts already made with the 41-year-old Portuguese transfer guru.
Manchester City’s tremendous success since their takeover some 15 years ago has been unprecedented. The club have gone on to achieve big things, and in recent times, all credit seems to be reserved for their star manager, Pep Guardiola.
However, one man operating at a high level behind the scenes has been Txiki Begiristain, the former Barcelona director until 2010. He jumped ship to join the Manchester City project and has been a tremendous performer in the background, tasked with signing the right players for the club.
He has been a shrewd operator in the transfer market and was responsible for the deals for some of the best players to grace the club, including Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, David Silva and recently Erling Haaland, among many more. However, Begiristain is set to leave his role at the end of the season and will use the period between January and June as a handover period for his successor.
Speaking of his successor, Manchester City have narrowed their search to a few candidates, although Quique Carcel has rejected an approach as he has decided to stay at Girona. They are not chasing Sporting CP’s director of football, Hugo Viana, as a priority target, as contacts have been made with the 41-year-old Portuguese transfer guru.
Hugo Viana is Manchester City’s top choice
Hugo Viana might be young, but he packs considerable experience in a challenging atmosphere at Sporting CP. He was instrumental in some of the club’s recent transfer decisions, which included the signings of stars like Viktor Gyokeres and Ousmane Diomande, among others.
With a good period to understand his role at Manchester City and take a proper handover from Begiristain, Viana could be a good fit to run the behind-the-scenes activity at the club. He will still need to fill the Spaniard’s big shoes, but he seems like a good enough and concerted option for the club in the long run.
