Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho’s best signings compared
Man City and Man United have been very active in the transfer window so far, with the money spent on players under Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.
The two managers have worked with some of the best players in the game, but who do you think has a better record and who else do you think deserves a place on this list?
TOP FIVE GUARDIOLA BUYS
Thiago Alcantara
Ahead of Guardiola's first season in charge of Bayern in 2013, he made signing Alcantara a priority. He had promoted him from the Barcelona academy and has become vital to Bayern's success. Injuries have disrupted his time in Germany, but his importance to the side was summed up by Xabi Alonso in April 2015 when he claimed 'the magician's returned' following the midfielder's return to the first team after six months out.
Javier Mascherano
“Honestly, after five, six months I thought it was unlikely I’d be here long: my characteristics seemed to go against everything Barcelona stood for," Mascherano told the Guardian in 2016. He was talking about his first season at the club following his £25m move from Liverpool where he had been operating as a midfielder. Then in a Champions League match against Arsenal he showed his prowess as a defender and he became integral to the club's back line.
Dani Alves
Alves cemented his status as football's best right-back in eight seasons at Barcelona and was part of three Champions League wins and six league triumphs before leaving for Juventus and then Paris Saint-Germain. Before his move to PSG, he was linked with Man City where Guardiola now manages.
Robert Lewandowski
Since leaving Borussia Dortmund in 2014, the striker has been vital to the success Bayern enjoyed under Guardiola. It took him a while to get going in Munich, but that seems like a lifetime ago. In the last two league seasons he has scored 60 goals and before he left to take over at City Guardiola called him "the most professional player" he ever met.
Gerard Pique
Pique and Barcelona are made for each other and the boyhood fan has become an automatic choice in defence. Guardiola brought him back to Spain in 2008 and, according to the Barcelona website , the 30-year-old 'brings together character, class and strength in the air at centre back, something that has made him a key figure in the Barca team.'
TOP FIVE MOURINHO BUYS
Diego Milito
After a fantastic goal scoring season at Genoa, which brought 24 goals - one behind top scoring Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Milito was signed by Mourinho, then Inter manager, in 2009. He was 30 and enjoyed a fantastic first campaign, which brought 22 goals in 35 Serie A games as well as the goals in both the Coppa Italia and Champions League finals in 2010. He remained at the club until 2014. Similarly, selling Zlatan Ibrahimovic not only pocketed €46m also brought Inter Samuel Eto'o. It proved to be an excellent piece of business. It was also hard to leave out Mesut Ozil.
Michael Essien
"He's a great man, he is loyal to me, he is loyal to Chelsea, he is loyal to Madrid, he is loyal to everybody," Jose Mourinho, who signed Essien twice, once said about the midfielder. He was an exemplary Mourinho signing, epitomising everything the manager wanted in a player. The Ghanaian was one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe during his first few seasons at Stamford Bridge and was loved by Chelsea fans, who crowned him their Player of the Year in 2007. And what about that goal he scored against Barcelona?
Ricardo Carvalho
Carvalho was signed twice by Mourinho, first at Chelsea then Real Madrid. The centre-back slotted in comfortably alongside John Terry and Pepe, and was still going strong at 38, starting for Portugal in their opening game at Euro 2016.
Ashley Cole
Cole will go down in history as one of the finest left-backs to have graced the Premier League. His move to Stamford Bridge was filled with controversy, but Cole was consistently reliable, exceeding expectations and eventually winning every major trophy possible with Chelsea.
Didier Drogba
There’s no question as to who tops the list of Mourinho’s greatest signings. Paul Pogba may yet move top, or Ronaldo if he decides to go back to Manchester. Drogba’s contribution since moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004 was outstanding and the striker is one of the club’s greatest players, having scored 164 times in two spells with the Blues.
