´No doubt´ Guardiola will succeed at City – Eriksson

Former Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has no doubt Pep Guardiola will be a success in the Premier League.

Guardiola arrived in Manchester amid much fanfare and expectation in the off-season, following trophy-laden spells in charge of European giants Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Barca fans were treated to 14 trophies during Guardiola’s four years at the helm, which yielded three LaLiga crowns and two Champions League titles, while he guided Bayern to three consecutive Bundesliga crowns among other silverware.

Guardiola is gearing up for his first Premier League match, when City kick-off their campaign at home to Sunderland on Saturday.

And Eriksson – who managed City for a lone season in 2007-08 – is confident the Spanish tactician will deliver in Manchester, which is also now home to his fierce rival in the form of new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.

“Guardiola will do very well for City in the Premier League, there is no doubt about that,” Eriksson told Omnisport.

“He won everything in Spain and he won almost everything in Germany with Bayern Munich.

“I’m sure he is going to do a great job there. That’s good for the Premier League and the city of Manchester. One team has Mourinho, one has Guardiola, so it’s not bad!”

Guardiola arrives at a time when City long for European glory to go with recent Premier League successes.

Since the Abu Dhabi United Group purchased the club in 2008, City’s hierarchy have strived to win the Champions League, continually investing in the squad, with John Stones, Leroy Sane, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus and Nolito among the newest acquisitions in 2016-17.

Naturally, the pressure is on Guardiola to deliver and Eriksson appreciates the weight of expectation the new man must deal with.

“It’s easy to understand the owners. They invest a lot of money in players and coaches. They want to see results. It’s the same all over the world,” said the Swede, who is in charge of Chinese Super League juggernaut Shanghai SIPG.

“If you’re Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, Manchester United or City now, they want to see results because they are big clubs and the amount of players they have is incredible.”