Txiki's
INCREDIBLE
LEGACY
Txiki Begiristain never intended to stay at Manchester City for 13 years but something about the Club and the city got into his blood.
A humility, a passion, a humour, a determination – Manchester traits that have also run through the Etihad and helped shape a remarkable period of success.
“This is a city filled with hard workers, people that are proud of being Mancunians but they don’t shout about it,” CEO Ferran Soriano says.
“It’s Txiki’s personality.
I think there’s a fit between him and the city that made him stay here for 13 years.”
Begiristain, himself, may take a quiet pride in his achievements during his time here, but those that have worked alongside him know the qualities that have made him arguably the most successful director of football the game has ever known.
He may carry a four-leafed clover from his days in Japan and a lucky one peseta note, but very little of the glory he has brought to City is down to chance.
Hard work and clarity of mind from thoughtful strolls along the Bridgewater Canal and across the city, helped the Spaniard build the foundations of our recent success.
“He’s humble, especially when you think about what he’s won,” adds Brian Marwood, our former Managing Director of Global Football.
“There’s no drama around him, he creates a harmony in any situation he’s involved in.
“There’s a tendency when you’re in this role to listen to the noise because everyone’s got an opinion about who we should sign or who the coach should be but I think that he’s always been very level-headed. Very mature and logical.”
In terms of transfers at City he’s had a phenomenal hit-rate.
Kevin De Bruyne – written off by Premier League ‘experts’ – was a player that Begiristain saw as a heartbeat of the team.
And over months of talks, he convinced him to come back to England and that City was his ideal destination. Not a bad shout.
Add Erling Haaland, the world’s most wanted striker...
Rodri, a holding midfielder who was named the greatest player on the planet...
Ederson, redefining what a goalkeeper should be and countless more; the list of phenomenal signings is almost endless.
And, of course, Pep Guardiola - a friend and a colleague, but probably his most significant arrival of all. The world’s best coach, who has led City to unprecedented levels of success in the English game.
Guardiola joined with the confidence to know that he would get the support and belief from a close team that would do their best to provide a platform to succeed.
And when times got tough – a trophyless 2016/17 debut campaign with the pundits questioning whether his tactics would work in the rough and tumble of English football – a support that wouldn’t waiver.
“One of the reasons I came here was because of the potential future, but also because of friends like Ferran and Txiki were here,” Pep said.
“At that time I didn’t know my chairman, I didn’t know my owner, I didn’t know the staff, I didn’t know the players. I didn’t know almost anyone. But I knew them.
“I had the hierarchy supporting me and it was not a surprise. I am so grateful because it could be different.
“But I worked with them, especially with Txiki in Barcelona, and I knew it was going to happen. Always we tried to find a solution and not to blame what was going on.”
It’s now nearly four decades since they first met on a journey that would shape football not only in Spain and England but further beyond.
Both were part of Johan Cruyff’s revolutionary Barcelona ‘Dream’ team that conquered La Liga and Europe with the Dutchman’s influence setting both men’s careers on a path that saw them continue to make an impact on the game, after their playing days were over.
Cruyff described Txiki as “the smartest kid in the class” - a Basque native who could learn to speak Catalan by listening to the radio while sitting in Barcelona traffic jams and only diverted away from completing an economics degree by the demands of playing at Camp Nou.
Aitor Begiristain Mujika, to give him his full name, joined Barca in 1988 and went on to make more than 400 appearances for the Club winning four La Liga titles, the Spanish Cup, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Cup – now the Champions League.
Born in Olaberria in 1964, 30 miles from San Sebastian, he made his debut for Real Sociedad as a teenager and would be part of the side that lifted the Copa del Rey with a victory over Atletico Madrid, scoring in the final before they triumphed on penalties.
For a man who has known little other than success, it would be his first domestic medal and second overall after helping Spain to the 1986 Under-21 European Championships.
But it was at the Nou Camp where the silverware really started rolling in, with 11 winner’s medals during seven years at Barca that also saw them end their long wait for a maiden European Cup success in 1992.
A thoughtful and intelligent winger, Txiki also began to understand the importance of the dynamic in the dressing room that would shape his ideas of developing a squad.
And it’s not always about hard work with legendary striker Hristo Stoitchkov describing him as a “leader of laughs” and Dutch great Ronald Koeman driven crazy by his English translations when he first arrived.
Cruyff was a huge influence, both personally and professionally, just as he was on Pep. His desire for attacking, intelligent and courageous football run through their philosophies and Txiki was able to visit him in hospital, shortly before his passing, to simply enjoy talking about the sport.
His playing days would finish with two years at Deportivo La Coruna and three seasons in Japan with Urawa Red Diamonds, before he called time on a brilliant career that also him win 22 caps for his country.
The next step was to return to Barca in 2003 as a technical director after a difficult period for the Club to usher in a new golden era, and it was Cruyff who believed in his ability to do the role.
Most notably, Txiki was fundamental in the inspired decision to give rookie coach Guardiola the top job at the Club.
“As a player, [Cruyff] changed our lives and how to understand football,” he says. “Then one day, he said to the people who could be elected as president of Barcelona, that I had to be appointed sporting director even with no experience.
“I had nothing before and I had to learn. I had people helping of course. I could see as well when he was a player that Pep was going to be a coach.
“To start your career at the top with Barcelona is lucky but also maybe something that one day Cruyff saw in us.”
When he left after a change of presidency, Begiristain was a wanted man. He was keen to experience England and had plenty of offers and Soriano says getting him to move to City was one of the most important appointments he ever made.
“The decision to hire Txiki Begiristain was a fundamental one for the development of the Club,” he says. “I am actually amazed that other Clubs didn’t see it.
“The ones that were talking to him were hesitating. He had demonstrated what he was capable of at Barcelona.
“If you want a football director, go and get the best in the world.
“Which is, by the way, what we’ve done now with Hugo Viana. We’ve done a proper analysis of the different directors in the world, how much they’ve changed their squads and the money they have spent for it. We ended up with a shortlist and we went to talk to this shortlist.
“This is what we did for Txiki. Remember that at the time, the idea of a football director in the UK was not widely accepted. It was crazy to me. I came here and our comms people told me that I can’t say that.
“It’s very dangerous because if you talk about the football director as the main person, you are diminishing the role of the manager and people in the UK do not accept that.”
Directors of football are now the norm although the secrets behind how they work can still be a mystery.
A contacts book is essential, of course, but so too is an honesty and an authenticity that is appreciated by players and staff. No one can stay in football in that role as long as Begiristain has, without a reputation that is respected throughout the game.
Important too, is a love for the sport and it’s something that has never left him. City helped with that, and plans to move on to experience other countries, were put back, then postponed and then shelved all together.
A relaxed atmosphere, a cultural city and a thrilling and friendly environment all contributed in him staying and making Manchester a second home.
Brought up close to the beautiful city of San Sebastian and so soaked in the culture that he once ran with the bulls in Pamplona, there were many things that kept him at our Club and in Manchester.
“To be a sporting director in a football club for more than seven, eight, nine years looks like a miracle.”
“It’s not only me and my work, the people that I’ve been working with have made my life easier and better.
“I was thinking that a part of my career to do five years and then to go to another country. My last years [playing] were in Coruna and then I went to Japan and I wanted to do something like this.
“England, Italy, US, Japan but suddenly things were going well with friends around me, two more years, two more years, two more years, Pep extending his contract and now I am 60 years old.
“Everything was working and the environment and people we had in the Club, it’s a good life. I was happy and enjoyed what I was doing. I’m from San Sebastian and I never thought that one day I would go to the Premier League and to Manchester but it has been amazing.”
Of course, it hasn’t always been easy. An early decision was to select Manuel Pellegrini to take over as our coach in 2013, deciding that the team needed a change in style and the Chilean could, and did, help deliver it.
Then there was the summer that followed Pep’s first year when Begiristain saw that City needed to accelerate the transition from our first great Premier League-winning side by bringing in new faces.
He’s been instrumental in attracting in so many legends and the pitches and avenues of the CFA are running out available areas that haven’t been claimed in honour of a City great.
So choosing his most important signing is difficult.
“Fernandinho,” the man himself says. “Now that Kevin has gone, maybe also him.
“Fernandinho was one of the first signings, top guy, captain of the club. He has been amazing for this. And Kevin spent 10 years here with an unbelievable performance, producing so much.”
And just like Cruyff, he sees that intelligence in Fernandinho and other members of the squad that could see him potentially follow in his or Pep’s footsteps in the future.
“I hope so, why not?” he adds. “[Ilkay] Gundogan and Bernardo [Silva], I can see some good coaches and also I can see some good sporting directors.
“Bernardo is going to be a top, top sporting director. Maybe Fernandinho as well, but he has very good eye for a player. If he wants to be a sporting director, he’s going to be top.”
Viana now takes the reins and Txiki is confident that he will be successful, citing his energy, calmness and courage to make difficult decisions as crucial attributes.
It’s exciting to see the Portuguese now at the helm, but Begiristain’s presence will also be missed.
Not least because of an astonishing career that has seen in him collect 50 trophies as a player and a director of football.
Txiki separates them out – saying that football belong to the players and coaches – and it’s typical of his humility that he is happy to let others take the credit for our success during his time here.
But his impact at City has been huge, during a period when we have won 21 major trophies, including seven Premier League titles, two FA Cups, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Champions League.
“He is the most humble person I ever met,” Pep said.
“He never goes to the media. Always, the success is for the other ones. He is always behind the scenes.”
“You don’t find these type of people in this world because their egos are always so high - and I put myself as an example [of that].
“He always gives the credit to the players, to the manager, to the chairman, and the CEO.
“That’s why it’s a pleasure working with him because I can do my job completely free, accepting the good moments and the bad moments and sharing together.
“In the bad moments we are closer than ever and in good moments we celebrate together with a glass of wine.
“That’s why it’s a joy to work here with people like Txiki.”
After 13 magical years, thanks for everything Txiki!
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