Given recent history, Manchester City really wouldn’t mind a clone of Txiki Begiristain.
The man who oversees all the important behind-the-scenes operations at the Etihad is not one for the limelight. He works in the shadows. Has a decent track record in the transfer market. A distinguished playing career with a classy left foot.
All of that sounds a little like Hugo Viana, the man to take over from Begiristain as sporting director at the end of the season. He is all of those things. He’s Txiki Lite, Txiki 2.0, whatever you want to call him.
Aside from the role of head coach, this is the appointment that City really need to nail as they enter a period of change. Begiristain has sounded out potential new men through the season and settled on Viana, someone who admitted that 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 but this return to English football comes after six seasons at Sporting Lisbon, learning the craft, helping awaken a club that had fallen so far behind Benfica and Porto that the concept of winning the league became alien. Viana has been at the head of their operation for two titles in four years; they should win another this season. Dynasties and all, with the prevailing feeling in Portugal that he – and manager Ruben Amorim – have achieved everything they set out to.
Hugo Viana is primed to step into a vital role at 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 bond with Pep Guardiola which has been crucial to the club’s success
Viana’s biggest decision as sporting director was to pluck Amorim from Braga in 2020. He and Sporting president, Frederico Varandas, committed to paying £10million in compensation for a coach who had only managed at the top level for a matter of months. ‘It was a gamble but not luck,’ one source tells Mail Sport. ‘Sporting don’t have the money for that.’
Amorim and Viana are intrinsically linked these days. The pair met as players at Braga and solidified their friendship later on in the Middle East where they ended their playing careers, providing support for each other. The bond has grown stronger since. ‘He’s 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 jumps to the biggest clubs if Amorim doesn’t go with him,’ one said. Another added: ‘If Amorim goes with Hugo then it’s top for City. The big guy is him.’
There is not yet a vacancy, of course. Pep Guardiola, out of contract in the summer, has not communicated a firm decision on his future. Those around City, including the decision-makers, were conceding in the summer that this year would be it, the end, but each passing week of silence – and now an approach from England not acted upon – 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’d be a great loss, we’re talking about the best manager in the world, but I see a really well-prepared club for the post-Pep era.’
The current head coach has not yet formally announced his exit but a strong succession plan will be spearheaded by Viana
The incoming sporting director brought Ruben Amorim to Sporting Lisbon and could yet 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 Braga; Alonso’s contract expires in 2026.
Whether it is now or in 12 months’ time – and not even accounting for the outcome of the Premier League hearing into alleged financial impropriety – change is coming to the perennial champions.
The daily Spanish breakfasts at the City Football Academy shared by Guardiola and Begiristain – described as affable and witty around those he works with – will be no more and the way the latter wants to usher in a new dawn is by working closely with Viana from February.
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. Regardless, Begiristain’s fingerprints will be all over the futures of Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne and a few others.
There are questions and curiosity as to how City navigate their way beyond 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 piece. Intriguingly, he is friendly with his counterpart at Arsenal, Edu, and is understood to have lunched 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 beginning at Sporting was not easy. A relative rookie when he joined in 2018, Viana walked into a club engulfed by 50 or so apparent supporters storming the training ground and attacking players with belts.
Viana has a good working relationship with a number of Premier League figures including Arsenal’s sporting director Edu (centre)
Upon joining Sporting Lisbon in 2018, Viana had a number of false starts before unlocking 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 squad was underway and Sporting basically started again from scratch. Viana’s first forays into building a new team saw 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,’ one source said.
With the appointment of Amorim, things started to move. The ‘magic trick’ as it’s called over there. The rabbit from the hat. The trademark 3-4-3 formation, subtly changed year-on-year, that very few had answers to and a progression in European competition, where they host City in a fortnight.
When asked this week about the reports suggesting he will follow Viana to City, Amorim replied: ‘These are rumours. Viana will always be a great friend, but his professional trajectory will one day be different. One thing doesn’t lead to another.
‘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, there has been a focus on purchasing new blood before selling high – evidenced with the departures of Matheus Nunes and Nuno Mendes – while landing Viktor Gyokeres from Coventry City for £20m has been a masterstroke. Gyokeres has 40 goals in 40 league starts and is now worth at least triple what they paid.
Sporting expect him to leave soon and have already signed Nordsjaelland’s 19-year-old Conrad Harder to be the Swede’s successor.
Signings like Viktor Gyokeres (foreground right) have been revelatory for the Portuguese side
But Viana has plotted well for his inevitable departure with the purchase of Conrad Harder
‘Viktor could have earned more money from clubs in England but Hugo and Ruben convinced him,’ one source said. ‘Hugo made one important difference to before: he preferred to pay big for a player like Gyokeres instead of the 20 on two or three different players. This is the change. He has very good negotiating skills.’
It looks and sounds decisive. Choosing Harder is similar to the business Begiristain looks to complete: make sure a young, raw player is coming up behind the more established guy in that area of the pitch.
Begiristain has a whiteboard of City’s squad, with two names written under each position, and calmly tells agents and players exactly where he envisages them fitting in. Albeit with the odd miscalculation, it is largely seamless.
City hope the smooth moves extend to the boardroom.
