Lillo to become Pep Guardiola’s number two at Man City

Spanish boss Juan Manuel ‘Juanma’ Lillo is leaving his role as Qingdao Huanghai manager to become Pep Guardiola’s number two at Manchester City.

Guardiola has been without an assistant since Mikel Arteta departed in December to become Arsenal manager.

As reported by Marca, former City captain and current Anderlecht player-manager Vincent Kompany and Real Sociedad coach were both approached about the position.

However, the English champions have now turned to Lillo – who has formerly coached Real Oviedo, Real Zaragoza and Real Sociedad among many other clubs – who has been a significant influence on Guardiola’s coaching career.

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Lillo said of the former Barcelona boss in 2012 that “Guardiola is like my son”, while Guardiola travelled to Mexico in 2006 to play  under Lillo at Dorados de Sinaloa so that he could learn from his tactical approach.

Lillo, 54, was last in Spanish football as assistant to Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla – having previously been his number two with the Chilean national team – and has since managed at Atletico Nacional and Vissel Kobe.