Heynckes: Guardiola made the right choice

Jan 18, 2013 5:20:00 PM

The German trainer indicated that while he plans to retire in the summer from football, die Roten will be in good hands with the Spaniard at the helm as he can bring them success

Jupp Heynckes has revealed he is pleased a "smart man" like Pep Guardiola is going to replace him at Bayern Munich.

Guardiola, formerly of Barcelona, signed a three-year deal with the Bundesliga leaders on Wednesday which will see him takeover at the club in the summer.

And Heynckes, who will be retiring at the end of the current campaign to make way for the Spaniard, believes they could not have found a more suitable candidate for the job.

"[I'm being succeeded] by a younger coach who has been very successful. I think it's good. My successor is a smart man. He has analysed the top European teams and has recognised that Bayern will be the team with whom he can have the most success," he told reporters.

"I'll be 68 in the summer, that's already past retirement age. If everyone worked until that age they'd have a nice pension saved. It was clear to me in the summer that I basically wanted to stop."

When asked about the possibility of managing in England, the former Germany international echoed similar thoughts to that of Guardiola who snubbed the Premier League to go to Bayern.

He added: "As a coach I would not go to England either if I didn't know how things would look like in four months’ time or if I don't know how the owner will react."

Heynckes' side are currently top of the Bundesliga, nine points ahead of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen and face Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League.