Thursday, 25th October, 2012
Manchester City are close to appointing former Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain and his right hand man Joan Patsy, according to Spanish daily El Mundo Deportivo.
Begiristain, who is credited with closing some of Barcelona’s most impressive deals of the last decade, has been linked with taking a role at the English champions before, while Ferran Soriano was appointed CEO at the Etihad Stadium earlier this year; Soriano worked at Barcelona as general manager during Begiristain’s reign.
Now Begiristain is expected in Manchester either this week or next week, to take a post at the Citizens.
He will bring with him trusted colleague Patsy, who is expected to help the former Barcelona sporting director operate in the transfer market and close deals for the English club.
Soriano has already added a number of former Barcelona employees to the operation at Manchester City.
The first to follow Soriano was Esteve Calzada, who had held a role as marketing director at the Camp Nou.
relatedNewsStoryAlso at the club is Marc Boixassa, another former Barcelona marketing specialist.
On the pitch, Manchester City have struggled in the Champions League this season, losing away at Ajax 3-1 last night, something in contrast to their Premier League form.
But off it the wealthy English giants are adding talent and quality with the aim of surging the club up the financial league table and challenging the established marketing operation at rivals Manchester United, while also operating shrewdly in the transfer market.
