“He can come anytime” - Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola opens the door for Manchester United legend to join his backroom staff

Pep Guardiola has seemingly welcomed the opportunity of working alongside Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney at Manchester City.

Rooney has been out of management since being sacked by EFL Championship outfit Birmingham City in January. He's always spoken of his desire to eventually manage United during his managerial career.

However, the former Manchester United captain hailed Guardiola as 'the best manager in the world' this week and admitted he'd be open to joining him at City:

"It depends (on whether I’d ever be an assistant) – if Pep Guardiola comes in and asks me to be his assistant, you’d walk there... For me, the best manager is Pep and you look at how he adapts – how they (City) are playing now is not the same as how they were playing four years ago."

Guardiola opened the door for the Manchester United icon to join him at Manchester City but noted his connection to the Red Devils (via BeanymanSports):

"He can come anytime, more than welcome. For all of City of course it's important but he's Red Devil so he is a United fan. So of course it's nice for all of us, Wayne Rooney has been one of the greatest in this country of all time."

Rooney enjoyed a hugely successful playing career at Manchester United, winning five Premier League titles. He is the club's all-time top goalscorer with 253 goals and 145 assists in 559 games across competitions.

Guardiola highlighted Rooney's success in the Premier League by stressing the difficult nature of the English top flight:

"He knows, he was there, he was in United. He won a lot of Premier Leagues so that means how difficult it is to be in there and that means he knows how difficult it is."

Rooney previously had spells in charge of EFL League One outfit Derby County and MLS side DC United. His reign at Birmingham was a disappointing one as he oversaw just two wins in 15 games.

However, the Manchester United hero is regarded as one of the greatest players in English football history. He went to war with Manchester City in the Manchester derby 27 times, finishing on the winning side on 13 occasions.

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Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney compared Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne to Steven Gerrard

Kevin De Bruyne has been vital for Manchester City during their recent period of dominance.

If Rooney were to join Guardiola's coaching staff at Manchester City he'd be coaching one of the Premier League's most highly-regarded playmakers, Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian midfielder has become a hero for the Cityzens during his nine years at the Etihad.

De Bruyne, 32, has bagged 98 goals and 161 assists in 366 games across competitions for City. He's been touted as one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history, winning the title on five occasions.

Rooney once compared De Bruyne's playing style to that of his former England teammate Steven Gerrard. The Manchester United icon wrote for The Times in 2020:

"De Bruyne reminds me a bit of Steven Gerrard. He drifts out to that right-hand side and plays some brilliant balls whipped in, like Stevie used to. What I like most is he takes chances, he takes risks, he doesn’t go for the easy ball - he plays the hard pass."

Gerrard became a Premier League all-time great during his playing days at Liverpool. The Merseysiders' former captain posted 186 goals and 157 assists in 710 games.