Manuel Pellegrini Holds Manchester City Meeting At Radisson

Pellegrini Holds City Meeting At Radisson
|

Manuel Pellegrini held court with his Manchester City lieutenants and coach Brian Kidd on Sunday ahead of officially starting as the club's manager on Monday.

Pellegrini is currently staying in Manchester's Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel and chaired a meeting with his Spanish confidants in the plush hotel's Alto restaurant.

Former City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson resided at the Radisson during his brief period in charge of the Blues for the 2007-08 campaign.

Kidd belatedly arrived at the location, where he joined Pellegrini, the Chilean's assistant Rubén Cousillas and two other Spanish-speakers.

Open Image Modal

Pellegrini in Manchester city centre today

Argentinian Cousillas has followed Pellegrini to River Plate, Villareal, Real Madrid and Málaga.

Pellegrini clarified Kidd would be retained because of his "great football knowledge", after David Platt left the club along with former manager Roberto Mancini.

Sir Alex Ferguson's one-time assistant returned to City in 2009 as technical development manager when Mark Hughes was manager, prior to his promotion to first-team coach under Mancini later that year.

The club confirmed Pellegrini was in Manchester city centre on Sunday, where he had his first suit fitting.

After finishing 11 points behind champions United last season, City spent £54.9 million on Jesús Navas and Fernandinho before Pellegrini was announced as Mancini's successor.

Carlos Tévez was sold to Juventus last week for £10m after four acrimonious years at Eastlands.

City play their first pre-season fixture against Supersport United in South Africa in a fortnight.