City's pursuit of Guardiola set to keep Pellegrini in a job

Despite an annihilation by Barcelona in the Nou Camp which laid bare the gulf between the teams, City do not want to replace Pellegrini with a manager only marginally more likely to improve them.

Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola and Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers - managers they would consider capable of building a new dynasty while preserving the City playing philosophy - both appear unattainable.

Pellegrini's job, which has been the subject of much speculation, may be saved by City's preference to wait for Guardiola, who could be available next summer when his current contract expires.

One option for City chief executive Ferran Soriano would be to promote Patrick Vieira after only two years at the helm of City's development squad.

Vieira understands the City philosophy but appointing him would be a gamble for City, who cannot afford to fall out of the Champions League placing with revenues - £27m this season - vital to complying with UEFA's financial fair play regime. Soriano saw Guardiola flourish as Barcelona manager after only a year coaching the club's 'B' team.

The Carlo Ancelotti link to City is a product of his own need to get out of Real Madrid this summer rather than City pursuing him.

A direct link between him and the Etihad club does exist, through City's Italy non-executive director Alberto Galassi. But Ancelotti's profile does not include an adherence to the brand of football City are still determined to have running through all their teams.

Hiring Ancelotti would also effectively rule out any prospect of moving for Guardiola in the next three years.

The club's poor return in the transfer market will also place the performance of director of football Txiki Begiristain under scrutiny. The £190m City have spent over the past two-and-a-half years has not yielded a single player who has made the side significantly better.

Soriano is likely to argue the merits of his compatriot and another factor playing in Begiristain's favour is his close friendship with Guardiola.

The two, whose manager-director of football partnership brought Barcelona such success, speak two or three times a week and removing Begiristain could potentially undermine a key advantage City seem to have in attempting eventually to secure Guardiola.

Soriano's position still appears secure. City's commercial operation is thriving and there has been a positive start in the United States, with the 48,000-capacity Yankees Stadium only 3,000 short of a sell-out for the New York City opening home match against New England Revolution. (© Independent News Service)