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Pep Guardiola has revealed he would be happy to work with Wayne Rooney “anytime” in response to the former Manchester United striker’s claims earlier in the week.
When asked about whether he would be willing to be Guardiola’s assistant coach, Rooney revealed he would be willing to “walk to Manchester City” to make it happen. While the answer was one made in jest, there was evidently an undercurrent of truth running through it, given Rooney’s most recent coaching experience at Birmingham City.
The 37-year-old was appointed as Birmingham manager in place of the popular John Eustace, who had quietly overseen an impressive start to the season for the Championship side.
Despite finishing 17th last season, Eustace had driven Birmingham City to 6th in the table at the point of his departure. However, executives at St Andrew’s were thought to want their side to play a more attractive style of football than Eustace was extracting from his players, regardless of the effectiveness of this approach.
The managerial swap was not considered a popular one amongst the fanbase or the first-team squad, both of whom were appreciative of Eustace’s work.
Nonetheless, Rooney was appointed as the new manager a few days after his official departure from DC United. What followed was nothing short of a disaster.
Birmingham City went on a run of nine defeats in fifteen games under Rooney. The West Midlands club plummeted from 6th place to just outside the relegation zone in this time. Following a resounding 3-0 defeat away to Leeds United on New Years Day, the club decided to end Rooney’s short tenure at St Andrew’s.
Rooney was adamant he would “not give up on management” in the aftermath of his sacking, however.
In a press conference on Friday, Guardiola was asked for his thoughts on Rooney’s desire to work with him at the Etihad. The Spaniard replied, “He can come any time, more than welcome.”
“For our city, of course he’s important, but he is a Red Devil, he is United but of course it’s nice for all of us. Wayne Rooney has been one of the greatest in this country of all time, so if he makes compliments for all of us, it’s nice.
“That comes from what he said from working that many years. He knows. He was there with United. He won one Premier League, Wayne Rooney? I don’t think so. He won a lot. That means he knows how difficult [it] is to be there and that’s why he knows how difficult it is.”
“He can come anytime, he’s more than welcome”
Pep Guardiola says Wayne Rooney would be welcome to visit Man City’s training ground to watch how they work 🤝 pic.twitter.com/KardylUzFM
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 24, 2024
Given two of Guardiola’s former acolytes – Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca – are currently thriving in English football, at Arsenal and Leicester respectively, if Rooney is serious about a return to management, a seat alongside the City manager is an excellent developmental one.
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