Man City hint at Pep Guardiola's successor with deal to land perfectly placed sporting director
Manchester City have reached an agreement to make Sporting Lisbon's Hugo Viana their new sporting director, talkSPORT understands.
Former Newcastle midfielder Viana will replace Txiki Begiristain when stops at the end of the season.
Viana's arrival will probably put the Sporting coach in Ruben Amorim in the box to triumph pep guardiola if he leaves when his contract expires in the summer.
Amorim has impressed for Sporting having won the Portuguese title twice in the last four years.
And his team currently sit top of the table having won all eight league games so far this season.
City bosses will get a first-hand look at Amorim next month when the Premier League champions take on Sporting in a Champions League clash in Lisbon.
Viana knows everything about English football and spent four years at Newcastle between 2002 and 2006.
The midfielder rejected the specific interest of Liverpool signing for the Magpies and Sir Bobby Robson's knowledge of Portuguese football proved key in the negotiations.
After signing, Viana said: “Liverpool are obviously a huge club and I was very confused and unsure of what I wanted to do, but then I spoke to Bobby Robson and after five or ten minutes, I was clear about Newcastle.”
The Portuguese arrived on Tyneside, aged 19, for a fee of £8.5m and became the club's most expensive teenage signing, eclipsing the £5m spent on Jermaine Jenas in 2002.
Upon arrival at St James' Park, Viana was taken under the wing of the late Gary Speed as he adjusted to life in the North East.
However, competition for places in the Magpies' midfield was fierce with Speed, Jenas, Kieron DyerLaurent Robert all in inspired form.
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Consecutive season-long loan deals at La Liga clubs Sporting and Valencia followed before making a move to the permanent Mestalla team in 2006, having scored just four goals in 61 appearances for Newcastle.
After a season in the United Arab Emirates, Viana ended his career in 2016 before being offered the position of director of football at Portuguese club Belenenses.
He took up the same role at Sporting a year later and helped lay the foundations for a golden era of domestic success at the club.
Viana's success has not gone unnoticed, especially in the transfer market with the acquisition of English winger Marcus Edwards and at the same time unearthing Barcelona winger Raphinha during his formative years at Vitoria Guimaraes.
Other notable names courted by Viana include Tottenham full-back Pedro Porro, manchester united midfielder Manuel Ugarte and former Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres, who scored 25 goals for Sporting last season.
