Man City land new director of football following Txiki Begiristain’s departure

Manchester City have agreed a deal for Sporting’s Hugo Viana to take over from Txiki Begiristain as a direct replacement for Txiki Begiristain.

Txiki Begiristain announced he will be leaving as Man City sporting director at the end of the season and this left the Premier League champions with a void to fill.

City have now taken a bold step by agreeing a deal to bring in Hugo Viana.

Viana, the former Newcastle United midfielder, topped the list of Begiristain’s replacement after impressing during his six years at Sporting while working with manager Ruben Amorim.

Sporting have won two of the last four Portuguese titles and are top of the league this term with eight consecutive victories.

The 41-year-old’s decision to pay more than £10million to take Amorim from Braga in 2020 was seen as the catalyst for their spell of dominance.

Hugo Viana, Director of Football of Sporting CP (Photo by Jan Kruger – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

City want the new sporting director to have a handover period alongside Begiristain for six months before the Spaniard’s departure.

Guardiola’s own future still remains unresolved, with the 53-year-old out of contract at the end of the season.

Surprisingly, Sporting play host to Pep Guardiola’s City in the Champions League group stage early next month and Viana’s move is expected to be finalised before then.