Given recent history, Manchester City really wouldn’t mind a clone of Txiki Begiristain.
The man who oversees all of the Etihad’s major behind-the-scenes operations is not in the spotlight. He works in the shadows. Has a decent track record in the transfer market. A distinguished playing career with a stylish left foot.
That all sounds a bit like Hugo Viana, the man who will take over the position of sporting director from Begiristain at the end of the season. He is all those things. He is Txiki Lite, Txiki 2.0, whatever you want to call him.
Apart from the role of head coach, this is the appointment City really need to make as they enter a period of change. Begiristain has spent the season sounding out potential new men and opted for Viana, one who admitted his move to Newcastle United as a teenager was a mistake as he believed he had not fully developed as a midfielder.
That may be so, but this return to English football comes after six seasons at Sporting Lisbon, where he learned his trade and helped reawaken a club that had fallen so far behind Benfica and Porto that the concept of winning the league became alien . Viana has headed their operation for two titles in four years; they should win another one this season. Dynasties and all, with the overriding feeling in Portugal that he – and manager Ruben Amorim – have achieved everything they wanted.
Hugo Viana is ready to play a crucial role for Manchester City at the end of the season
The former Portugal international has some big shoes to fill in the form of outgoing sporting director Txiki Begiristain (far right)
The Spaniard has a close relationship with Pep Guardiola, which has been crucial to the club’s success
Viana’s biggest decision as sporting director was to sign Amorim from Braga in 2020. He and Sporting president Frederico Varandas promised to pay £10 million in compensation for a coach who had only been performing at the top level for a few months. “It was a gamble, but not luck,” a source told Mail Sport. ‘Sporting doesn’t have the money for that.’
Today, Amorim and Viana are inextricably linked. The pair met as players at Braga and later strengthened their friendship in the Middle East, where they ended their playing careers supporting each other. Since then the bond has grown stronger. “He is like family to me,” Amorim has said and sources in Portugal remain convinced that where one goes, the other is likely to follow.
“I honestly don’t think Hugo will jump to the biggest clubs if Amorim doesn’t go with him,” said one. Another said: ‘If Amorim goes with Hugo it will be great for City. He is the big man.’
Of course, there is no vacancy yet. Pep Guardiola, who is out of contract this summer, has not yet communicated a final decision on his future. Those around City, including the decision-makers, admitted in the summer that this year would be the end, but every week of silence that passes – and now an unheeded approach from England – offers glimmers of hope.
“I believe the club already has the next manager in mind for the day Pep decides to leave and they will try to follow the same line of work,” goalkeeper Ederson told ESPN Brazil this week. “Of course it would be a big loss, we are talking about the best manager in the world, but I see a club that is very well prepared for the post-Pep era.”
The current head coach has not yet formally announced his departure, but Viana will spearhead a strong succession plan
The incoming sporting director brought Ruben Amorim to Sporting Lisbon and was able to move him on to the Etihad
The names doing the rounds are Amorim and Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen. Amorim’s release clause is similar to the one Sporting paid to Braga; Alonso’s contract expires in 2026.
Whether now or in 12 months’ time – and that’s without taking into account the outcome of the Premier League hearing into alleged financial impropriety – change is coming for the perennial champions.
The daily Spanish breakfast at the City Football Academy shared by Guardiola and Begiristain – described as affable and witty by those he works with – will be no more and the way the latter wants to herald a new dawn is by working closely together from February to work with Viana. .
City compromised on the 41-year-old’s start date, initially hoping he would be with them permanently this year, but Viana will be wearing two hats. Either way, Begiristain’s fingerprints will be all over the futures of Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne and a few others.
There are questions and curiosity about how City navigate their way past the exits, from transfer budgets to retaining key personnel.
In Viana, who is believed to have a strong relationship with super agent Jorge Mendes, they have their first play. Intriguingly, he is friends with his Arsenal counterpart, Edu, and is believed to have had lunch with him while in London negotiating Pedro Porro’s transfer to Tottenham.
Those who know him are at pains to point out that Viana’s beginnings at Sporting were not easy. A relative rookie when he joined in 2018, Viana walked into a club overrun by about 50 apparent supporters who stormed the training ground and attacked players with belts.
Viana has a good working relationship with a number of Premier League figures, including Arsenal’s sporting director Edu (centre)
When Viana joined Sporting Lisbon in 2018, she had a number of false starts before unleashing the side’s potential
Amorim has helped develop the side into a dominant force in Europe and the side will meet Man City in the Champions League in just two weeks’ time.
An exodus of the team was underway and Sporting essentially started from scratch again. Viana’s first attempts at building a new team had missteps, with Yannick Bolasie and Jese Rodriguez not working out. “You can’t blame him for this start, Sporting were coming back from a major crisis,” said a source.
With Amorim’s appointment, things started to move. The ‘magic trick’ as it is called there. The rabbit out of the hat. The signature 3-4-3 formation, which changed subtly year on year, to which very few people had an answer, and a progression in European competition, where they host City in a fortnight.
When asked this week about the reports suggesting he would follow Viana to City, Amorim replied: ‘These are rumours. Viana will always be a good friend, but his professional trajectory will one day be different. One does not lead to the other.
“Viana’s path is Viana’s path, mine is mine. We have a professional relationship that will not last forever, but it is certain that the friendship will continue.”
At Sporting under Amorim and Viana, the emphasis has been on buying new blood before selling high – evidenced by the departures of Matheus Nunes and Nuno Mendes – while bringing in Viktor Gyokeres from Coventry City for £20m was a masterstroke . Gyokeres have scored 40 goals in 40 league starts and are now worth at least triple what they paid.
Sporting expects him to leave soon and has already signed 19-year-old Conrad Harder from Nordsjaelland as the Swede’s successor.
Signings such as Viktor Gyokeres (foreground right) were revealing for the Portuguese team
But Viana has prepared well for his inevitable departure with the purchase of Conrad Harder
“Viktor could have made more money from clubs in England, but Hugo and Ruben convinced him,” said a source. ‘Hugo made one important difference with the past: he preferred to pay a lot for a player like Gyokeres instead of twenty for two or three different players. This is the change. He has very good negotiating skills.’
It looks and sounds decisive. Picking Harder is similar to the task Begiristain wants to complete: get a young, raw player in behind the more established player in that part of the field.
Begiristain has a whiteboard of City’s squad, with two names written under each position, and calmly tells agents and players exactly where he thinks they will fit. Despite the occasional miscalculation, it’s largely seamless.
City hope the smooth moves extend to the boardroom.