Bastian Schweinsteiger has now revealed what he knew would occur when Pep Guardiola was appointed as Manchester City boss in 2016.
The retired midfielder played under Guardiola from 2013 until 2015 at Bayern Munich.
During that period, the pair were successful in tandem, dominating the Bundesliga while playing a style of football that was far from commonplace in Germany.
The German legend left the club to sign for Manchester United before the start of the 2015/2016 season, which was Pep Guardiola’s final season in charge of the club.
However, Schweinsteiger did play quite regularly during his time under Guardiola in Munich.
Unfortunately for the World Cup winner, however, injuries hampered his minutes during that spell.
Schweinsteiger on what he knew would happen when Guardiola joined City
A season after the Catalan’s time in Germany ended, he made his way to Manchester City, as Bastian Schweinsteiger was playing for their bitter rivals, Manchester United.
In that campaign, Jose Mourinho was also managing United as Pep Guardiola was reunited with familiar faces in England, albeit not at the same club.
The Sky Blues finished third while the Red Devils ended in fifth place as Chelsea went on to win the Premier League title under Antonio Conte.
In July last year, Bastian Schweinsteiger attributed the German national team’s struggles in tournaments in recent years to the influence of Pep Guardiola on his country’s playing style.
That is, despite Germany winning the World Cup in 2014, a year after he was appointed by Bayern Munich.
However, with the 39-year-old making such a statement, perhaps one would assume that he does not hold Guardiola in high esteem.
But in an interview with The Overlap, Bastian Schweinsteiger revealed that he was confident Manchester City would dominate the Premier League after they hired Pep Guardiola among other things.
“If you maybe talk about tactics and all this stuff, Pep [Guardiola] is incredible. When I actually played for United and I heard Pep will leave Bayern Munich and he was signing for City, I was like, ‘Okay, they will dominate the league immediately and the league will change also in England. People will watch Pep’s style and try to copy.’
Bastian Schweinsteiger was proven right
Having worked closely with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, Bastian Schweinsteiger is aware of his genius as a coach.
As a result, as Schweinsteiger stated, he expected City to hit newer heights once Guardiola was appointed by the club.
But the former Chicago Fire anchor was also correct about the Spaniard’s influence on English football, as several teams in the country have adopted his style of play, much like it was in Germany.
When Guardiola does leave the Etihad Stadium, if he manages in another country, Schweinsteiger would perhaps rightly expect the same to happen once again.