Manchester City are reportedly set to appoint Sporting Lisbon ‘transfer guru’ Hugo Viana as their new director of football to replace Txiki Begiristain.
It would be a major coup for the Premier League champions, who are once again hoping to land this season’s top-flight trophy over Arsenal and Liverpool.
That’s because he is highly regarded for his business acumen, and was responsible for Sporting signing a number of players who’ve moved on to the Premier League.
Viana played a big role in securing deals for Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Porro, who have since left Sporting to join Manchester United and Tottenham respectively.
He is now expected to swap Portugal for England early next year with City having the basis of a deal in place, according to The Telegraph.
City have worked long and hard to find the perfect replacement for Begiristain, regarded as one of the best sporting directors in the world, who is stepping down at the end of the season.
They want Viana to ‘shadow’ Begiristain from early 2025 so he is ready to take over for the 2025-26 season onwards.
As well as his impressive work in the transfer market, Viana played an instrumental role in bringing in the highly-rated Ruben Amorim as Sporting’s head coach.
City’s deal for Viana comes at an interesting time, with City’s current manager Pep Guardiola out of contract at the end of the season.
While Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso is expected to be a leading contender, it is thought that Amorim could now come under consideration.
That’s only if Guardiola decides to leave the club and it should be noted that he is yet to indicate whether he intends to extend his deal with City or leave.
Amorim has been linked to the Chelsea and United jobs following his impressive work at Sporting in Portugal.
The 39-year-old, Sporting’s manager since 2020, has helped the club win two Primeira Liga titles and two Portuguese League Cups.
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