By DaveKiddThis is a game-changer in more ways than one for a club that has struggled to sell-out even big matches and win fans outside their northern heartland
Need a drink, United fans? Guardiola puts the Reds even deeper in Man City's shadow
There was a panic on at Manchester City
last week when it seemed they might not even come close to selling out
the Etihad Stadium for the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against
Everton. Ticket prices had been slashed and the club sent out video appeals from star players , but City were still around 5,000 short of their 55,000 capacity – as they were for the marquee Champions League clash with Juventus last September.
Against Sevilla a few weeks later in the same competition, there were 10,000 vacancies – and an avalanche of ‘Emptihad’ gags from United supporters.
This is a club which attracted average gates of more than 28,000 in the third tier at their old Maine Road home in 1998-99. So the lack of glory hunters attracted to City since the billionaire Abu Dhabi takeover has been remarkable.
Space mission: Empty seats at Manchester City's recent Prem home game against Everton
Even after two Premier League titles in the space of three years over
the past four seasons, you’ll see precious few kids wearing City shirts
in the south of England.And while you’ll pay top dollar for a hovel of a Manchester hotel room when United are at home - due to the massive influx of football tourists - you can get a suite for half the price when City play on their own turf.
The Blues, for all their recent success, have remained a local club with a local fanbase.
It is endearing to neutrals, yet frustrating to the club hierarchy.
This is what Pep Guardiola’s appointment is going to change.
When City confirmed football’s worst-kept secret on Monday, that Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini this summer, they became a truly global club.
Guardiola is a game-changer in commercial , even more so than in footballing,
Just the ticket: City took out big adverts to try to sell cut-price seats for Cup semi-final
After Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Saint Pep – with his Ready Brek glow of an aura – is the third most marketable name in world football.
He may have inherited Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta when he became Barcelona boss and he may have taken on Treble-winning European champions at Bayern Munich, yet City aren’t overly concerned about his team-building credentials.
They want a coach who can fine-tune what is comfortably the strongest squad in the Premier League, bring them domestic dominance and also challenge with style in Europe.
This announcement is what City have been planning towards for years.
Guardiola’s former Barca boardroom allies Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano were recruited in 2012, with a world-class academy system and infrastructure put in place .
This is a house custom-built for Pep, and finally he is ready to take up tenancy.
Big success, small catchment area: City have won trophies but not enough hearts and minds
It will be difficult for United to resist that temptation now.
In footballing terms, the Reds are already Manchester’s second club . Can they allow the same to happen on the commercial front?
In comparison to Guardiola, Louis van Gaal is yesterday’s man. The plodding playing style and the old-school drill-sergeant approach are a turn-off to A-list footballers and worldwide audiences alike.
To pit a managerial-rookie Ryan Giggs against Guardiola would look reckless.
So Mourinho may end up thanking his nemesis Guardiola for inadvertently landing him the United job he has long coveted.
Action Images via Reuters
Red alert: This Manchester United supporter is surely now more likely to get his wish
The London Blues will struggle for identity without Mourinho as well as John Terry, the last vestige of his great back-to-back title team.
Whether Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Oscar and Diego Costa are willing to stick around without Champions League football seems unlikely.
With Diego Simeone adamant he will stay at Atletico Madrid, any managerial appointment Chelsea make for next season will look distinctly second-rate. Even though they could do worse than Guardiola’s City seat-warmer Manuel Pellegrini.
In Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool do have a Hollywood manager – but he is in charge of an am-dram squad. As in the Bundesliga, Klopp will be unable to fight Guardiola on a level playing field.
A. Hassenstein
New league, same problem: Klopp faces again trying to beat Guardiola with less resources
The Catalan may well be more about style than substance, but sometimes it is all about the look.
And thousands of empty seats is never a good one.
In the market: Steve McClaren is looking to add to his squad before tomorrow's deadline 
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Fall guy: Terry could have won the 2008 European Cup final but then this happened 
Red missed: This sending-off meant Terry was banned for the 2012 European Cup final... 
...but he joined in the celebrations — infamously after putting on full Chelsea kit 
Blues brothers: Terry and manager Mourinho were vital to Chelsea's emergence as the team to beat 
True Blue: Terry had a 2000 loan to Forest but will not play for another English club 