Pellegrini joins manager merry-go-round after announcing he will leave Malaga
Manuel Pellegrini is a qualified engineer but he is now engineering his next move in a long footballing career.
The Chilean has been linked to the top job at Manchester City after the English Premier League club dismissed Italian Roberto Mancini earlier this month.
Pellegrini had a
one-season spell in charge of Real Madrid before joining Malaga in 2010,
shortly after Qatar's Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani bought the
club.
This season the
59-year-old guided "Los Boquerones" to the heady heights of the
Champions League quarterfinals, losing to one of this weekend's
finalists, Borussia Dortmund.
But Pellegrini said he
was now standing down for "sporting reasons" -- not because of the
club's financial problems. Malaga confirmed to CNN that the head coach
would be leaving at the end of the season.
The Spanish club agreed Pellegrini could leave despite having two years left on his contract.
"My coaching staff and I
are separating from Malaga but our union with this city will be
eternal," Pellegrini said in a social address to the Malaga Provisional
Council.
"We leave the club qualified for Europe with the mission accomplished. We had a time with the club that was very rewarding."
Pellegrini plans to stay
at the helm for Malaga's final two matches. The club, sixth in the La
Liga standings, plays Deportivo La Coruna at home before closing the
season against Barcelona at the Nou Camp on June 1.
"Sunday will be my last match at La Rosaleda and will be very exciting for me," Pellegrini said.
"I'm not leaving due to the matter of money but looking for a project that allows me to develop my profession conveniently."
Pellegrini continued in a
statement on the club's website: "Everyone has the right and obligation
to follow their chosen path, and Malaga must do the same. The club
requires a realistic project next season.
"Malaga had a past without Manuel Pellegrini, and will also have a future without Manuel Pellegrini
"I will be eternally
grateful to the owners of the club, who always had blind faith in me.
The most important foundation of this club is the strength and support
from the fans."
It's not only on the Costa del Sol that waves are being felt in the managerial market.
Along with Mancini's departure, Everton manager David Moyes will replace Alex Ferguson at EPL rival Manchester United.
Carlo Ancelotti has
indicated he wants to leave French champion Paris Saint-Germain,
possibly to replace outgoing Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, who in turn
has been linked with a return to Chelsea in place of Rafa Benitez.
Tony Pulis has also left
EPL side Stoke City while Roberto Martinez is said to be considering
his position at Wigan following relegation from England's top flight.
As Pellegrini pondered his future, UEFA ruled on Malaga's eligibility to compete in European competitions on Wednesday.
Malaga fell foul of the European governing body's Financial Fair Play rules in 2012 and was subsequently handed a season-long ban from its tournaments.
Malaga owed player wages and has debts with other football sides as well as the Spanish tax authorities, claimed UEFA.
But UEFA's Club
Financial Control Body (CFCB) confirmed that Malaga has now fulfilled
conditions imposed upon it and a second year of "suspended sanctions
that had been imposed will not apply."
Malaga was allowed to
continue in this season's Champions League but is not eligible to
compete in next season's Europa League even if the team qualifies for
one of the three places on offer to Spanish sides.
The club is awaiting a decision, due next month, on its appeal against this ban to the global Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Malaga was reported to
have splashed out $80 million in 2012 assembling a squad containing big
names like Spain's double European champion Santiago Cazorla and Dutch
defender Joris Mathijsen, but the many top players left as the club cut
its costs.
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