I think Man City’s new director of football Hugo Viana will have to make one key change

Make no mistake about it, this is a huge moment in the history of Manchester City.

Friday’s news that Hugo Viana is expected to replace Txiki Begiristain as the club’s director of football is perhaps the biggest shake-up since Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover. So pivotal has the 60-year-old been to City’s success that many believe his exit will be more keenly felt than Pep Guardiola's departure, when that eventually does come.

Put simply, prior to Begiristain’s arrival in Manchester, City had won just one Premier League title. Now they’re on eight. Chuck in a Champions League, a plethora of top-flight records and a few of the globe’s biggest players now at City, and it’s fair to say his CV makes for pretty impressive reading.

His departure feels like the beginning of a new era at the Etihad. If the first chapter under the Abu Dhabi regime was about becoming one of England’s elite, and the second about becoming among the world's elite, chapter three will simply be about maintaining that position.

That’s not a negative outlook - once you’ve reached the top of the mountain there’s nowhere else to go.

It’s difficult to imagine what the club will look like in a decade’s time, not least because it’s impossible to guess how the landscape of English and European football will look in that time.

Indeed, the club could face three seismic landmarks in the next 12 months with Begiristain leaving, Guardiola’s possible exit and the outcome of the 115 Premier League charges. Whether Guardiola will let the other two factors influence his future is unclear, but there’s a sense he’ll be gone by the summer of 2026 at the very latest.

Having the manager remaining in situ for another season would at least help Viana ease into his new role. And it really is one almighty job for the former Newcastle United midfielder. 

There are no shortage of responsibilities, be it transfer planning, managerial selection, youth development and the general overseeing of wider infrastructure.

Those who know Begiristain and have worked closely with him, view the former Barcelona executive as the best in the business. That he ultimately brought Guardiola to City, and the success that has subsequently followed, has only enhanced that reputation.

As has Begiristain’s unassuming character. Rarely one to front up to the media or speak publicly, he’s developed a stature within the game of the figure who quietly pulls the strings. In general, he steers clear of journalists. He doesn’t have to worry about his status in the game, the silverware speaks for itself.

Viana will over time hope to earn a similar level of prestige among those who know the inner workings of the club. That will depend on how he handles certain key areas of the role, chiefly the hiring and firing of managers and building a new squad as Guardiola’s treble-winning group slowly disbands.

He’ll have help from City’s peerless hierarchy - including chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and CEO Ferran Soriano - and the City Football Group’s vast network of clubs across the globe, but it is a role where exceptionally high individual standards must be met.

This is a different job to the one Begiristain inherited in 2012. An empire has been built in the 12 years since, that means more eyes are on City and greater expectation.

One difference between Viana and Begiristain could be how front-facing he is with the vast array of non-footballing issues that come with the role. This week alone has proved that with the APT verdict, and the 115 charges that will be determined over the coming months.

While other City executives will deal with those areas, it feels increasingly like PR is becoming an extra requirement with a Premier League director of football, whether that’s publicly or privately. It’s unlikely Viana will be as inconspicuous as his predecessor.

Guardiola even referenced in a recent press conference that he often faces questions from the media that others are better placed to answer, while Al Mubarak tends to make one annual address.

But as football headlines become increasingly dominated by off-the-field issues, having more voices away from the playing side could be key for clubs like City. Viana may learn that in time.