Juanma Lillo in Manchester to complete City agreement

Juan Manuel ‘Juanma’ Lillo is in Manchester ahead of his appointment as Pep Guardiola’s number two at Manchester City.

As outlined by the Telegraph, the experienced coach and manager is in the English city ahead of confirmation with Diario Sport saying the contract will be one-year in length.

Guardiola has been without an assistant since Mikel Arteta departed in December to become Arsenal manager while Lillo has left his managerial role at Qingdao Huanghai.

As reported by Marca, former City captain and current Anderlecht player-manager Vincent Kompany and Real Sociedad coach Xabi Alonso were both approached about the position.

However, the English champions have now turned to Lillo – who has formerly coached Real Oviedo, Real Zaragoza and Real Sociedad among many other clubs – who has been a significant influence on Guardiola’s coaching career.

Lillo said of the former Barcelona boss in 2012 that “Guardiola is like my son”, while Guardiola travelled to Mexico in 2006 to play under Lillo at Dorados de Sinaloa so that he could learn from his tactical approach.

Lillo, 54, was last in Spanish football as assistant to Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla – having previously been his number two with the Chilean national team – and has since managed at Atletico Nacional and Vissel Kobe.

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