re: Guardiola would snub City in favour of United

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Why would it take years? He could virtually have his pick of any midfielder in the world at United.

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even teams like real, man city, and chelsea took a few years to build squads. man u has a lot of money, but they can't just make teams sell them midfielders

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and a fantastic academy (something he won't have at City for a decade - a very important part of his success).

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i think this is over-stated

how many starters at barca were plucked from their academy while pep was there? biscuits, thiago, and pedro without a doubt

xavi? no
iniesta? no
messi? no
puyol? no
abidal? no

alves, sanchez, pique, cesc, villa, mascherano, alba, and affelay were all purchased

so you have 1 consistent starter in biscuits and then pedro, and a 3rd stringer AM. those are theo nly guys promoted from their academy while he was in charge of barca. i think he can get by without one elsewhere

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You are assuming Pep would carry his exact system from Spain to England, which he probably wouldn't. It doesn't have to immediately be a pure possession system.

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i dunno. if his history at barca is any indicator, he wants to put his system in place early, and star power from the previous regime has no bearing on this. maybe he'll handle it differently