Pep Guardiola Nearly Joined Manchester City as a Player Under Stuart Pearce

 

It was confirmed on Monday that Pep Guardiola will take over from Manuel Pellegrini as Manchester City manager at the end of the season, per the team (h/t BBC Sport), but it's not the first time the former Barcelona player and manager has been associated with the Premier League club.

Back in 2005, toward the end of Guardiola's playing career, he was, in fact, offered a trial at Manchester City. As reported by BBC Sport at the time, then-manager Stuart Pearce was interested in bringing the Spaniard in on the recommendation of former midfielder Ali Benarbia.

Alas, the move never happened, and Guardiola hung up his playing boots after a short spell with Mexican side Dorados de Sinaloa.
But to think—Guardiola could have learnt the managerial ropes from Stuart Pearce himself.