Manchester City is expected to start the 2025 calendar year with a new sporting director: Hugo Viana is a suitable successor to the outgoing Txiki Begiristain.
Txiki Begiristain, who once piloted his former teammate Pep Guardiola to Manchester, has not yet officially left. And yet, according to concurrent English media reports, his successor has already been determined. Hugo Viana is to take up his duties at the beginning of the new calendar year – and learn from Begiristain until the end of the season.
As sporting director, Begiristain, whose decision will be announced on Tuesday according to The Athletic, has been one of the great architects of success since 2012. Guardiola never tired of mentioning that. However, the former attacker was keen to stop at 60 – and was reportedly eager to help in the search for a suitable successor.
Hugo Viana is the chosen one, but is currently still in office at Sporting Lisbon. The 41-year-old made a name for himself at the traditional Portuguese club, which won the league title last season and is currently leading the national championship.
The former Portugal international (29 caps, one goal), who emerged from Sporting’s youth and played for Newcastle United, among others, during his career, has been in the role of sporting director at “his” club since September 2018.
Earned a reputation as a “pearl diver”
Over the past six years, Hugo Viana has certainly earned a reputation as a “pearl diver”. Time and again, Sporting has brought in players for little money in order to sell them at exorbitant prices. He is also responsible for the transfers of Viktor Gyökeres, captain Morten Hjulmand and Ousmane Diomande, who have long since sparked the interest of top European clubs.
In Manchester, Hugo Viana will have to adapt to a different role. “Smaller” clubs like Sporting will want to bargain with the new sporting director of the Skyblues for millions. But Begiristain seems to trust the Portuguese to fulfill this role.