The announcement that Pep Guardiola will become the Manchester City manager from the start of the 2016/17 season didn’t exactly come as a shock to many people.
The former Barcelona manager has been strongly linked with City long before he announced that he would leave Bayern Munich at the end of the current season.
Joey Barton, who started his senior career with the club, has had his say on the appointment, claiming that it now makes City the biggest club in the country.
Guardiola. Some appointment for City. Interested to see how he deals with the demand of EPL. A huge challenge for him.
— 👑Dr Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) February 1, 2016
100% makes Manchester City England biggest club. Can they become Europe's? That is Pep's challenge.
— 👑Dr Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) February 1, 2016
Predictably, not everyone agreed with this.
@Joey7Barton
England's biggest club would have filled the stadium for a semi final IMO opinion— Ed (@eddo75) February 1, 2016
@Joey7Barton still not even the biggest club in Manchester. One manager doesn't make them bigger than utd, as much as it pains me to say it.
— Kraig (@___Kraig___) February 1, 2016
@Joey7Barton – Ridiculous statement
— Robi (@robiutft) February 1, 2016
Barton followed with more tweets, clarifying what he meant by ‘biggest’.
In terms of financial muscle, City most dominant nowadays. On history/tradition of course they are not no.1.
— 👑Dr Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) February 1, 2016
Guardiola clearly had his choice of clubs and chose City. Says a lot about whose top dog at the moment for me.
— 👑Dr Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) February 1, 2016
People putting City down saying they aren't a big club are wrong. Even before Abu Dhabi investment they where a great club.
— 👑Dr Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) February 1, 2016
