January 16, 2013 @ 20:05

Since Pep Guardiola revealed at the Ballon d’Or awards that he was ready to return to football, where he would choose became the number one mystery in football.

Of course we now know the answer, as Bayern Munich have announced that they have hired Pep Guardiola as their new coach starting from next season.

The announcement comes as a big surprise as all bets placed Guardiola in the Premier League. And it’s also surprising that the Spaniard signed a contract for the next three seasons – until 2016 – as he never agreed such a long-term agreement when managing FC Barcelona.

With the decision, Guardiola has chosen the team closest to his philosophy and footballing views and the most similar club to Barca in Europe.

Bayern Munich are one of the biggest teams in world football, a historical club holding huge stories of success and four Champions League victories in their history. A team far from the one that has emerged lately, investing huge amounts of money.

The German outfit also have some of the values that define Barça’s philosophy: Offensive style, tiki taka and love for the jogo bonito. They also take good care in promoting young players with an academy similar to La Masia.

With the club’s economic strength and its solid directive team with Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Höness, Bayern Munich guarantees that Guardiola will be able to sign some players and build his own team.

And although it may seem less significant, Guardiola’s decision has taken into account his wish for his family to live in a city with one of the best standards of living in Europe.

Guardiola’s Challenge: to win the Champions league, 12 years later.

Ruling comfortably in the Bundesliga, the biggest challenge for Guardiola will be leading Bayern to win the Champions league again, a competition they haven’t won since 2000/2001.

We will have to wait at least one year to see if Guadiola’s magic formula is going to work away from Barcelona where he left after wining 13 trophies in 4 years to “fill himself up” again.

A sabbatical in his favourite city, New York, has been enough and now he’s ready to play again. Definitely good news for football lovers.

What do you make of Guardiola’s decision to become manager of Bayern Munich? Has the Spaniard made the right decision? Email us at info@laliganews.tv to get involved with the debate.