Shearer Says: “There’s no doubt Guardiola will bring charisma to the Premier League. I am certain he will win trophies at Manchester City”

Manchester City have made a statement of intent with Guardiola appointment

The worst kept secret in football was revealed yesterday when Manchester City announced that Pep Guardiola will take over from Manuel Pellegrini in the summer. We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time.

I wasn’t fooled in the summer when Pellegrini signed his contract extension at the club. I would not be surprised if he knew then that it would be his last season. It was probably designed to keep the press at bay, stabilise the players and keep them focused on the campaign ahead.

Pellegrini has been very professional and dignified with the way he has handled the news. You have to remember Manchester City are still alive in all four competitions this season. He’ll get his pay-off and that will be a hefty sum of money. You could have a situation similar to when Guardiola took over at Bayern Munich after Jupp Heynckes won the treble. That is a possibility with City this season.

There is no doubt that Guardiola will bring some charisma to the Premier League. His own style of football has been very successful at other clubs. He wins trophies and I am absolutely certainly he will win trophies at Manchester City. He’ll be given a massive budget to bring is some players in the summer. Manchester City have the funds to be able to offer the top wages so put all of those pieces together, City are going to be some force going forward.

We all know Guardiola’s brand of football. He keeps possession and then he tries to wear teams down. I can’t see him changing from that so it will be interesting to see it in the Premier League. Manchester City have made a huge statement of intent with this appointment. I don’t know when they started speaking to him but it is a great capture for them and for the Premier League. He will without doubt attract some of the big players in the world. From now until the end of August, we are going to be reading a lot about some of the big stars being linked to Manchester City. There are no guarantees in football but he is probably as close as you can get to guaranteeing trophies for your club.

No big names in January transfer window but clubs keep spending big

It’s been a quiet window in terms of big names moving around. That said, the spending is just getting bigger and bigger. It is astronomical. A lot of the money that has been spent in the last window was from teams in the bottom half of the table. With the amount of money available in the Premier League next season, they are desperate to still be in the top flight. It’s around about £120 million for finishing third bottom next year which tells you a lot about how much money is going to be sloshing around.

You can also look at Middlesbrough in the Championship who paid somewhere around £9 million for Jordan Rhodes. They want a slice of the pie next season. It’s a lot of money to spend on a Championship player but he will guarantee you goals at that level. When you look at his goalscoring record, it would suggest he could score 10-15 goals from now until the end of the season which would probably be enough to get them promoted.

Adebayor is a gamble for Palace but they need a goalscorer

Crystal Palace took a chance on Emmanuel Adebayor on a free transfer this week and it will be interesting to see how that works out. He might come into the club, score five goals from now until the end of the season, earn a new contract and then not play for three years.

I am not sure how fit he is because he has not played for such a long time. I am sure they will be working hard to get him match fit again but let’s face it, it comes down to whether Adebayor can be bothered. Crystal Palace were in desperate need of a goal scorer. If Adebayor is fit and if his mind is in the right place, he has ability. It is a gamble though because there are too many ifs in there. They needed to do something though to try to end their baron run in front of goal.

Terry has show unbelievable commitment and loyalty to Chelsea

I am in some ways surprised that Chelsea are allowing John Terry to leave at the end of the season. He has been a phenomenal player for the club. He has won trophies left right and centre. I would have thought the club might have come to him and offered him a job for life in some capacity.

Chelsea do need to sign another top-class centre-half but I am surprised Terry could not play even a small part next season. It’s very similar to what happened with Steven Gerrard at Liverpool. He wanted to stay around, but the club had other ideas. When you come to the end of your career and your football club feels you have no use to them, then I am afraid it is farewell for you.

Terry has shown unbelievable commitment and loyalty to Chelsea. I know he has played through injuries many times and put his neck on the line. He led the club as captain for many years and has won everything there is to win. He’ll rightly go out on a high with a great reception and he deserves it.

August Kate could be set for Cheltenham Festival run

I got a text from Willie Mullins over the weekend and he has told me that our horse Augusta Kate will either run at Sandown in the Mates Listed race or the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. Willie will enter her in both and decide nearer the time which race he feels she is best suited to run in.

Do you agree with Alan’s views? Then why not head to Coral and place your bets on the midweek Premier League matches?