Pep Guardiola has been confirmed as Manchester City's next manager — and he will be given a war chest to compete for £80million powerhouse Paul Pogba and £50m Everton defender John Stones.
Guardiola has agreed a three-year deal worth a record £300,000 a week, £40,000 more than Wayne Rooney, the top-earning Premier League player.
The Spaniard will be backed by City's oil-rich fortune and while Lionel Messi seems to be out of their range, the club will seek to reverse the trend of major stars moving to Spain.
Guardiola, who has managed Barcelona and Bayern Munich, has lost only 19 of his 239 league games as a manager and City believe the 45-year-old can attract marquee names.
Current manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed he would be leaving at the end of the season following his media conference before the match against Sunderland on Tuesday night.
Pellegrini said: 'I have talked with the club and I will finish my contract on the original date. The club are not doing anything behind me, I knew this one month ago. But I don't think it's good to have rumour or speculation, which I why I have told the players and the press.'
Guardiola is expected to bring in his coaching team from Barcelona and Bayern, including Manuel Estiarte, Domenec Torrent, Lorenzo Buenaventura and Carles Planchart.
Thierry Henry, who played for Guardiola at Barcelona, told Sky Sports: 'If you're a City fan right now, you can dream about having some great players.
'Not only because it's a great club and you have the resources, but Pep Guardiola will be the guy to attract any player in the world. Maybe not Messi, but a lot of players who want to be coached by him.
'There is one thing you can be sure of — he wants to dominate. People associate his teams with the number of goals they score but his teams also don't concede a lot. He always wants to be on the front foot, having the ball, possession, and he wants to dominate. So well done, Manchester City.'
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