Manchester City announced that Txiki Begiristain will officially take over for the team as director of football in the place of Brian Marwood. The 48 year old Spaniard previously held the exact same position while in Barcelona and was chosen because Manchester feels he will be able to help the team become club world leaders.
Begristain was with Barcelona from 2008 until 2010 and City stated that he will step in and help shoulder some of the responsibility that first team manager Roberto Mancini has had to deal with when it comes to operations and first team recruitment.
Current football administrator for City, Brian Marwood, will not be moving far as he is slated to take the role of managing director when the City Football Academy opens up during the beginning of next football season (2013/2014). Marwood will then be responsible for the training, management, development, and recruitment of as many as 400 players.
Back in his active days, Begristain played for Barcelona and Real Sociedad. He stated that he is very happy to have such a thrilling opportunity in front of him and that with so many achievements at Manchester City already he is honored to be given the chance to help bring more success to the team. He added that he looks forward to building a strong future with Roberto Mancini, Brian Marwood, and chief executive of City Ferran Soriano.
Soriano also welcomed Begiristain aboard stating that sustainability has always been a top goal of Sheikh Mansour’s and therefore the long future of Manchester City is dependent on how well they develop and recruit new young players. Therefore, he is delighted that they have such caliber coaches that will bring leadership and skill to the club that will help to create a formidable team.