Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola does not consider Jose Mourinho as a title challenger, and instead, he identified Chelsea as one of his greatest threats even before a ball was kicked this season.
The two will be in a clash of mighty when Manchester City manager goes head-to-head with Antonio Conte on Saturday in an early title clash.
Despite Jose Mourinho taking over at Manchester United and the threats of Arsene Wenger and Mauricio Pochettino at Arsenal and Tottenham respectively – Chelsea were the team Guardiola singled out.
His biographer Marti Perarnau writes in his book Pep Guardiola: The Evolution how the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach acknowledged a similarity between himself and Conte.
“I remember asking him in 2015 to name two coaches with the greatest potential and, without a second’s hesitation, he said, ‘Tuchel and Conte,’” writes Perarnau.
“He sees a lot of himself in Conte: his passion, his aggression, work ethic and determination to have the ball as much as possible, the intensity of his game and his competitive drive.
“‘Conte plays positional football too. It’s very different from my own, but it’s a game of position and he does it very, very well.’”
“In private, Pep’s gone as far as identifying Chelsea as one of the favourites to win the league this year.
“The team has a superb coach, excellent players, and a preferential calendar without any European competition and therefore lots and lots of time to concentrate on training and preparation for each game.
“He may well be proven wrong, but before the league kicked off Pep certainly saw Conte as one of his biggest threats.”