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Pep Guardiola will resume his rivalry with Jose Mourinho eight years after beating the new Manchester United manager to the Barcelona job.

At Manchester City the Catalan will be working with the men who identified his potential above the experience of Mourinho when determining who to entrust Barca’s golden generation of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta to when seeking a successor to Frank Rijkaard in 2008.

The faith of Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain - then part of the hierarchy at the Nou Camp and now chief executive and director of football respectively at City - paid off in spectacular fashion as Guardiola won two Champions League trophies in four seasons.

And that is why it was always a priority to one-day lure him to City.

What is telling is their reasoning for choosing Guardiola back then - a coach with no first team experience over one of the biggest names in the game.

It also says much of the ethos they are determined to instil at City - at the same time highlighting the type of concerns felt within Old Trafford when determining whether to turn to the controversial Mourinho.

In his book, ‘Goal: The ball doesn’t go into the net by chance,’ Soriano describes how the choice of who would be Barca’s next manager came down to a straight battle between two men, who will now face off in Manchester.

“Both had great virtues and they seemed to be at opposite ends of an imaginary scale,” he writes. “At the one end we had an experienced coach, who was successful, with a strong personality, and a controversial reputation.

“At the other end was a very talented person, who was totally familiar with the club, but without significant experience as a coach.”

Begiristain and other figures at Barca drew up a nine-point plan, outlining the requirements of their next coach.

And it was 'Point Six' that ultimately raised red flags where Mourinho was concerned.

Regarding responsibilities towards the media it stated:

“The coach is one of the club’s permanent, weekly representatives.

“He must act cautiously at all times.

“Respect opponents, referees and other institutions in general - fair play.

“He must not abuse the media or create false controversy, but focus on the relevant aspects of the game and how the team is doing.”

Soriano describes how Begiristain and Barca’s vice chairman Marc Ingla met Mourinho in Lisbon to interview him.

Mourinho produced a PowerPoint presentation, but Soriano explains Barca’s concerns:

“The Portuguese coach’s method generated media conflict almost permanently and it was also a potential source of conflict within the club.”

They eventually opted for Guardiola and such was the impression he left on Soriano and Begiristain, in particular, they have spent the past three years working on a reunion at City.

In his book, first published in 2009, Soriano also outlines the differences between the great rivals Guardiola and Mourinho.

“Leaders... choose the type of group they want to work with,” he writes. “The examples of Josep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, leading two of the greatest football teams in the world are very interesting and instructive.

“Guardiola always prefers working with smaller groups with stable hierarchies and not a lot of internal competition.

“Guardiola chooses to work with 14 or 15 players that have his total confidence. The end result is a very stable playing style and a changing room that doesn’t harbour much conflict.

“Mourinho’s strategy is different. Whether in Chelsea, Inter Milan or Real Madrid, Mourinho works with bigger groups, with many well known and talented players competing for the line-up.

“Mourinho assumes the complex task of managing his players’ egos in exchange for having that much talent at his disposal.

“Jose Mourinho’s case will be extremely interesting to the analysts of the future.

“He is already one of the best coaches in history and he has applied his successful training method to Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, even if his stay in the first three clubs wasn’t that long.

“It seems that what doesn’t change is his method, which he applies wherever he goes - he configures the team according to his criteria, he wins and then off he goes.

“It will be interesting to see if the ‘Special One’ manages to stay in a club for many years and is able to adapt his style and method to different circumstances.”