Manuel Pellegrini

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Born: Santiago, Chile 16th September 1953

14th June 2013 -

Manuel Pellegrini was appointed as Manchester City manager on 14th June 2013, succeeding Roberto Mancini on a three year contract.

The Chilean, a qualified civil engineer, enjoyed a successful managerial career in South America before moving to Europe in 2004 to take charge of Villareal. He enjoyed great success at El Madrigal, taking the small, provincial side to the Champions League semi-final in their inaugural season.

A second place finish in La Liga in 2007-08 attracted the attention of Real Madrid, and Pellegrini took over at The Bernabeu in 2009. Despite achieving a then record points total, Pellegrini felt undermined by Florentino Perez and was replaced by Jose Mourinho at the end of the season.

He subsequently took over at Málaga, and led them to a fourth place finish in his first full season, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2012–13 Champions League, becoming the only coach to take two different teams to the last eight in their debut seasons in the competition.

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All history and statistical material has been produced based on the research and writing of Manchester football historian Gary James (www.facebook.com/GaryJames4). It is maintained by Ric Turner & Gary James. All text remains the copyright of the original contributors.

Gary's book, Manchester - the City Years: Tracing the Story of Manchester City from the 1860s to the Modern Day, is available to order on Amazon.