Sir Alex Ferguson surprised by Guardiola's Bayern Munich choice

19-Jan-2013 4:55:00 PM

The Manchester United boss said he didn't expect the former Barcelona coach to select the Bundesliga side, despite being aware of the allure of the Bavarian giants

Sir Alex Ferguson said he was surprised when he learned that Pep Guardiola had chosen to manage Bayern Munich.

Enjoying a year's sabbatical, the former Barcelona manager ended months of speculation over his future by signing a three-year contract at the Allianz Arena.

The Spaniard was expected by many to come to the Premier League, with Manchester City and Chelsea strongly linked with the 42-year-old.

"I was surprised because I didn’t see it coming," Sir Alex told reporters. "All the time the talk was about clubs in England.

"But if you assess it as a coach, if you're given the opportunity to manage Bayern Munich it is hard to turn down because they are probably one of the best-run clubs in Europe.

"A fantastic city, a fantastic stadium, good players, good history. It is very easy to choose Bayern Munich with all these circumstances."

Sir Alex acknowledged that Bayern's illustrious history and previous stars have a lot of influence on the current state of play at the Allianz Arena.

"Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness are involved [at Bayern]. You also have Gerd Muller working in the place and I think Sepp Maier is still there.

"That place is loaded with players who made that club’s history. They've always been that way. It's a really well-run club and I think it's easy to accept that offer because of that."