“I can go out and kill for Mourinho but Guardiola is a spineless coward” … these were the words of Zlatan Ibrahimovic when being asked to compare Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in his autobiography couple of years ago.
Mercurial striker has played for both the managers during his time at Inter Milan and Barcelona, however, he only has love and admiration for Jose but he cannot even stand Guardiola’s shadow for a second.
Back when Zlatan was playing for PSG, Mourinho was managing at Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola was at Bayern Munich, it never looked like that their paths may cross anytime soon.
However as fate would have it, Mourinho is at Manchester United, Pep has agreed to take over at Manchester City and Zlatan could also join hands with Jose next season at Old Trafford.
According to Sky Sports, Ibrahimovic has agreed a one-year contract with Red Devils and could make Manchester Derby the most followed game on the planet next season. Rivalry between the Manchester giants has been simmering in last few seasons with Citizens having the upper hand.
Last season as well City pipped United for the fourth spot and Champions League qualification, albeit only on goal difference. Man United and Mourinho might want to settle the scores next season as both teams have started their work to improve their squad strength.
While Manchester City have completed the signing of Ilkay Gundogan, United are linked with the likes of Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane. City are expected to complete Aymeric Laporte’s transfer in coming weeks, while Mourinho is confident of getting Zlatan’s deal done even before Euro 2016 kicks off.
Manchester giants have the liberty to go out and spend as much as £200million this summer and then if you mix it with Premier League’s global appeal, Manchester Derby could end up eclipsing El Clasico as the must-see game in European football.
Not only players but the two managers are the most marketable name in modern football and given their El Clasico history, they would want to beat each other at any cost. Safe to say if you are a football fan, then Manchester is the place to be at next season as we could be in line to witness something special from both City and United.