Pep Guardiola to Premier League rumour receives considerable boost, according to reports

England’s top clubs will pay particular attention to a certain Spaniard in Bavaria this festive season with Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola due to announce his future plans before Christmas.

Hitzfeld won five Bundesliga titles during two spells with the Bavarian giants and feels the former Real Madrid coach would be the ideal replacement for Guardiola if he departs.

“Even I wouldn’t have tried to pull that one off”, said Bayern’s impressed Germany striker Thomas Mueller when asked about Alonso’s strike.

The fact that Guardiola’s good friend Txiki Begiristain works behind the scenes at Manchester City has boosted the speculation linking him with the English club but Chelsea and Manchester United are also viewed as potential destinations for the coach. “Next week there will be clarity”, ARD quotes Guardiola as saying.

Guardiola has stayed tight-lipped, giving no indication either way as to what he will decide, but Spanish sports daily Marca reported on Wednesday that Guardiola has already told the Bayern directors that he will leave at the end of the season.

Josep “Pep” Guardiola revealed this week that he’ll make an announcement soon regarding his future as the manager of Bayern Munchen.

However, it is City who are the bookies’ choice, despite Manuel Pellegrini overseeing a reasonable season so far.

Manchester United is another club thought to be interested in Guardiola, with the Louis van Gaal experiment continuing to stutter, but the Red Devils seem to be lagging in the race to sign him, despite it being widely acknowledged that Pep would prefer a move to Old Trafford.

“Tonight, I have no answer”, said the ex-Barcelona boss, whose contract expires in the summer.

It was a spoof contract to be Bayern’s coach for the rest of his life.

Sammer: When we get all our players fit or ready for action at the right time, meaning when things come to the crunch in the Champions League in the spring time in 2016, assuming we can beat Juventus Turin in the last 16.

Second-division side Heidenheim also went through after they enjoyed a 2-0 win at third-division Erzgebirge Aue to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in the club’s history.

“We tried to score again but we couldn’t”, said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.

“I genuinely don’t know where he will go but Manchester United will be high on the list, I would imagine, for the simple reason they are struggling”.