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Pep Guardiola's decision to join Bayern Munich has frustrated not only Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour but also the British media, with the papers full of confident predictions that the former Barcelona coach would take over a Premier League team this summer. Thursday's Mediawatch can take care of who looks most foolish but too much emphasis has been placed on quotations from the Catalan that would have been better interpreted as saying he would like to work here one day.
Perhaps "work here eventually" would be better - even Abramovich gives his managers more than one day - but, amid the uncertainty that pervades the game, anything short of signing a contract must count as mere aspiration. In this case, with him speaking in a video to laud the FA's sesquicentenary, flattery of his hosts may have played a part too. Some ignored the circumstances and the detail and - with no prospect of getting the decision overturned on appeal - jumped in with both feet, seeking to raise boardroom hopes and managerial fears at Chelsea and Manchester City.
There is no doubting the desire at Stamford Bridge to appoint the Catalan: first last summer, then after the dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo and, looking forward, after the expiration of Rafa Benitez's contract as interim manager. One wonders who is next in line on Abramovich's wish list but it is always nice to know, seven months after he finally picked up the Champions League, that there are some things the Russian's money cannot buy. Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini can concentrate on trying to cut Manchester United's advantage while knowing that the first choice to replace him if it goes wrong is safely committed elsewhere.
Why, though, has Guardiola rejected his Premier League suitors? Bayern, obviously, have their appeal; comparisons are being made between the regional status of the club, being to Bavaria what Barca are to Catalonia, and they are certainly worthy of their coach-elect.
Of Bayern's rivals the same could perhaps be said only of Borussia Dortmund but it is impossible to overlook that the Bundesliga is vibrant and competitive, too. Unexpected champions - Wolfsburg - are possible and there is a rare sense that this is the people's game; there is no £62 cheapest away ticket in Germany.
There are three potential champion teams in England at present but the Premier League's level of competitiveness is arguably superficial. A Times writer made the case on Tuesday that support for financial fair play from Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool was in effect a recognition of Manchester United's financial supremacy but designed to allow the trio to reel in City and Chelsea. United are partially hamstrung by the costs of Glazers' leveraged buyout but only the largesse of Mansour and Abramovich can drive a serious challenge to Sir Alex Ferguson's team.
So if you were Guardiola, where would you go? Two possible English destinations are clubs whose status is at risk from new regulations, while Ferguson shows no inclination to leave. There is a chance that unleashing the potential those £62 tickets gives Arsenal could appeal but the flipside of Chelsea's and City's spending is that their "financial doping", as Arsene Wenger called it, makes other destinations less attractive. Munich it is, then.
The money awash in the Premier League will attract many and Guardiola may wind up on these shores eventually. But England is not as attractive a destination as some would have you believe.
Philip Cornwall
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