Pep Guardiola addressed Giovanni van Bronckhorst during the Manchester City press conference on Friday afternoon. The latter was officially appointed as the new manager of Rangers on Thursday and that is what the manager of City says is nice to him. Van Bronckhorst and Guardiola worked together at the City Football Club, after the Dutchman left as a trainer at Feyenoord in 2019.
In the run-up to Sunday’s home game against Everton, Guardiola took the time to congratulate his former colleague on his new job. “It is a great compliment to him,” Guardiola said on Friday, when asked during the press conference about Van Bronckhorst’s appointment as coach in Glasgow. “Rangers is one of the biggest clubs in Scotland, it’s a great opportunity for him. He’s been here for a while and we’re still in touch. He’s a really nice man, I wish him all the best.”
In 2017, Van Bronckhorst faced Guardiola’s Manchester City with Feyenoord in the Champions League and afterwards worked closely with the Spaniard at the City Football Club. The former trainer of the Rotterdam team was expected to follow coaches like Patrick Vieira to gain experience at New York City, but instead opted for an adventure with Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League. English media have pushed Van Bronckhorst forward several times in the past as Guardiola’s successor at City.
“He was very open,” said Van Bronckhorst in the past to Sky Sports about the partnership with Guardiola. “He talked about the training sessions, I got the opportunity to see everything and talk to his staff. Those are moments when you can really see him in action and he is a very special coach. I spent those months with him in Manchester “Seeing things that I had never seen before. That has helped me a lot in my development as a coach. Pep is currently a coach who influences many young coaches. And he is not the only one, Jurgen Klopp is doing that great at Liverpool too.”
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