New Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola attends a press conference at the team training camp in Arco, Italy, yesterday.
RIVA DEL GARDA, Italy: Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola finally shed some light on his resignation at Barcelona yesterday -- and confirmed he hoped to raid his old club for midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Guardiola, 42, quit as head coach at Barca after winning 14 titles during his four-year reign at the Camp Nou between 2008 and 2012.
“After four years the desire was gone in Barcelona,” Guardiola said at Bayern’s training camp in northern Italy.
“The same players, the same opponents, the same journalists, the same games. Now everything is new.
“It’s good for my experience. My family will come to Munich soon, it’s a good education and therefore I’m grateful.”
He also confirmed the European champions’ interest in Alcantara.
Spanish media had already linked the 22-year-old with a move to Bayern and Guardiola admitted he has already asked the Bavarian giants to sign the midfielder.
“Yes, I want Thiago Alcantara, I have asked (Bayern to get him),” he said. “I know him very, very well. He’s a great player and can cover three, four, five positions.
“I have talked to (chairman Karl-Heinz) Rummenigge and (director of sport Matthias) Sammer, we will have to wait and see.
“Thiago is the only player I want, it will be him or no one. We have many players, but we need the special qualities Thiago Alcantara brings.”
Both Manchester United and Real Madrid have been linked to Alcantara, who has a market value of around 20m euros ($2m) and captained Spain Under-21 to the European title and was voted player of the tournament.
Alcantara, who has a contract at Barcelona until June 2015, scored a first-half hat-trick as Spain beat Italy 4-2 in the European Under-21 Championships in Jerusalem last month.
Bayern already have several midfield stars with Germany’s Mario Goetze signed from Borussia Dortmund, plus Holland’s Arjen Robben, France’s Franck Ribery, Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos and Swiss Xherdan Shaqiri vying for places.
“I don’t think adding another midfielder will be a problem for us,” said Guardiola.
“I spoke to club about my concept and told them why I want Thiago Alcantara. I give my opinion but I listen to the board. If they say no, that’s ok.
“Nobody will leave Barcelona, unless they feel they won’t play much. He wants to play. That’s why I proposed him to the club.”
Meanwhie, Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund have insisted European champions Bayern Munich will not have it all their own way this season.
Dortmund secured their latest new signing on Tuesday when midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined from Shakhtar Donestk, having also recruited Saint-Etienne forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 24, and defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, 25, from Werder Bremen.
Mkhitaryan, 24, impressed on Wednesday when the trio made their debuts in a 3-1 friendly win at Swiss champions FC Basel with the Armenian setting up the first goal and scoring the second.
Borussia host Bayern in the pre-season German Super Cup on July 27 in a repeat of the Champions League, which the Bavarians won 2-1 at Wembley.
Having won the 2010-11 and 2011-12 German titles, Dortmund were left empty handed last season as Bayern became the first German team to win the treble of Champions League, league and cup, breaking or equalling 25 Bundesliga records in the process.
They finished the German league season 25 points clear of nearest rivals Dortmund but Borussia’s midfield star Marco Reus has insisted they will not have things their own way when the new season starts on August 9.
“The 25-point difference won’t happen again,” Reus told German magazine Kicker. “We’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the mistakes we made in the Bundesliga last year. The new season begins for us on August 10 and we’re going on the attack again.”
Dortmund’s Germany star Mario Goetze has joined Bayern, using a release clause in his contract which allowed him to leave for 37m euros ($47.5m), and coach Jurgen Klopp admits he will be hard to replace, with Mkhitaryan set to step in.
“Our target has to be to improve,” said the 46-year-old, as Dortmund conceded more than twice as many goals as Bayern last season. “Of course we’ll miss Mario Goetze, no team on the planet wouldn’t, but we still conceded a lot of goals last season, even with Mario in the side.
“That’s one area where we can definitely improve.”
Klopp has said he is relishing having ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who won 14 titles in four years at the Spanish giants, as his opposite number on the Bayern bench.
“The way he had his team playing in Barcelona was simply fantastic and he’s a real role model,” said Klopp. “Now he’s at a new club and the first impression is that everything fits.
“In the past if you wanted to become a great coach you went abroad. Now someone like Guardiola has come to Germany.”
And Dortmund’s pre-season purchases of Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan have not gone unnoticed in Munich.
“I don’t know the players involved very well, but from what I do know of them, they are very, very good reinforcements,” said Bayern’s director of sport Sammer. “We had respect before these transfers, but you can only congratulate Borussia Dortmund.” AGENCIES
