Pep Guardiola to Manchester City: Spaniard 'must win Premier League by 10 points and make Champions League final'

Manchester United's Ander Herrera has warned manager he will be expected to deliver instant success at the Etihad

Pep Guardiola was reported to have met with Manchester United last week (Getty Images)

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera says Pep Guardiola will be under intense to deliver success at Manchester City.

Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini as City manager in the summer after eight trophy-laden years in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Although Guardiola is taking over at United's arch-rivals, fellow Spaniard Herrera is pleased to see the 45-year-old coming to England - had a warning for his compatriot.

“I’m looking at it from a positive point of view. They’re going to make us do better ourselves. Historically, City have always been below United, and this gives them a psychological advantage, because they are coming from behind,” Herrera told Spanish newspaper Marca.

“With Pep, with the multi-million pound outlay they’ve made and will spend with him, I expect the pressure to be higher for them.

“The fans are going to expect a lot: that they win the Premier League with a 10-point gap, that they reach the Champions League final....

“Pep seems a phenomenon to me. His teams always entertain me a lot, but at City the expectations will be very big.”

United were also linked with a move for Guardiola as speculation about the future of Louis van Gaal persisted. Van Gaal has found himself under pressure for some disappointing United performances this season, but Herrera believes it would be "unfair" to sack the Dutchman.

He said: “The perspective is different here. In England there is more patience, not only with Van Gaal. (Jose) Mourinho, being three points from relegation, wasn’t sacked. (Arsene) Wenger went nine years without any titles and continues there. City went three weeks without winning and there weren't any doubts about Pellegrini.

“So, returning to Van Gaal, I think it would be unfair to sack him because the way of working in England is to give confidence, and we still have the chance of winning three titles: FA Cup, Europa League and Premier League, even though we are 10 points from Leicester. Distances are less here.”

PA