Monday 5 December 2016 20:19, UK
Manuel Pellegrini has said Manchester City made clear their intention to appoint Pep Guardiola when he first joined the club in 2013.
Guardiola was announced as Pellegrini's replacement in February while the Chilean was still in charge, eventually taking over in July.
Pellegrini, who joined City after leaving Malaga in May 2013, has since said the uncertainty created by the hiring of Guardiola harmed their title bid last season.
But speaking to Spanish radio station Cadena SER, the former City boss insisted he holds no grudge against his successor, revealing the club made their plans clear from the outset.
"When they signed me, [Manchester] City were very clear with me," he said. "They came for me and they told me that they wanted Pep Guardiola or me.
"Guardiola did not want to sign and I did it for three years. I fulfilled my phase and Pep wanted to coach in England because he had spent many years in Barcelona. There is no problem."
Pellegrini is now in charge of Hebei China Fortune in the Chinese Super League, where he manages the likes of Ezequiel Lavezzi and Gervinho.
He is one of several high-profile bosses in China, including Luiz Felipe Scolari and Andre Villas-Boas, but confirmed he had offers from European clubs before opting to move to the CSL in August.
"I had two offers [from Spain]," Pellegrini continued. "Luckily, there were teams interested in me. It does not matter who they were.
"I have a two-year contract in China and whoever calls me, I do not break my contract. I was recently called from England and I gave the same response."
On Hebei, he added: "It is a club with a lot of progression. I had offers from Spain, Italy, South America and France…and after many years in Europe, none of the offers that I had were really from a competitive club."
