Friday 6 May 2016 23:06, UK
Manuel Pellegrini "has always known" he would be replaced by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Arsene Wenger says.
The deal to bring in Guardiola this summer was announced at the start of February, but Wenger reckons the plan to lure the Catalan to City began with the 2012 recruitment of director of football Txiki Begiristain - before Pellegrini was even in charge.
City's director of football worked with Guardiola at Barcelona, and the pair will be reunited once the 45-year-old has completed his final season at Bayern Munich.
"Once they took Txiki Begiristain you could see what was coming," Wenger said ahead of Arsenal's Super Sunday trip to the Etihad. "He has always known that in the back of his mind I think.
"I have big sympathy for Pellegrini, until Sunday. It is difficult because once you have less power when the players know you are moving out. I think the players respect him highly, I don't think it impacted the season at Man City."
Guardiola has built his managerial reputation on delivering success with a possession-based game, but Bayern's Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid and Leicester's Premier League victory have reopened the debate about the efficiency of a keep-ball approach.
Wenger is not about to change his philosophy, and he said: "When you are not successful, it is questioned and I can understand that.
"We have the type of players that if I say tomorrow we will only defend with Mesut Ozil in the team, it would become difficult.
"I have gone to the European managers' meeting for 20 years and we always have the same debate. When Barcelona, who always has the most possession in the Champions League goes out, everybody says, 'Maybe it's the end of possession football'.
"We have Leicester here and Atletico Madrid who have gone on twice to the Champions League final in three years so still it raises questions about football based only on efficiency.
"It shows that if it is done well it can be very successful but over a longer period, still possession will dominate."
