Pellegrini ´would bring attractive football to the Premier League´

Manuel Pellegrini’s attractive style of football deserves a big club like Manchester City, according to Marca journalist Juan Castro.

Reports that Pellegrini has agreed his release from Malaga have made him an early favourite to succeed Roberto Mancini at City after the Italian was sacked on Monday.

The Chilean has been with Malaga since 2010, transforming them from a mid-table La Liga side into one challenging at the top of the table and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

He masterminded their progression to the quarter-final of the competition at the first attempt with a side playing neat passing football, and Castro believes the 59-year-old deserves a chance at a bigger club.

“He (Pellegrini) is a great coach for me,” he said. “I think he deserves a big club like Manchester City with enormous players.

“I can say to the City fans that they will have more funny (enjoyable) games with Pellegrini than with Mancini.

“Pellegrini is an offensive coach, he likes a passing game, he could be the new Arsene Wenger in the Premier League.

“He likes these kind of players, so i think for the Manchester City fans it is an enormous sign because they will enjoy it much better with Pellegrini than with Mancini.”

Before managing Malaga, Pellegrini was the driving force behind Villarreal’s success – including a UEFA Champions League semi-final – and also had a short spell in charge at Real Madrid.

His time at the Bernabeu was not considered a success though, despite having to cope with big-name players being bought and sold without his knowledge.

“He [Pellegrini] didn’t succeed at Real Madrid,” he added. “That’s a fact, we cannot lie about that.

“He had an enormous (very good) league (campaign) but there was a better Barcelona … at Real Madrid they don’t value the second position.

“Of course he didn’t succeed with Real Madrid but this doesn’t mean that he’s not a good coach for the big clubs.”