Pep No 2 leaves Man City for MLS! Rodolfo Borrell – Lionel Messi’s first coach – joins Austin FC | CPT PPP Coverage

Rodolfo Borrell has left his role as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City to take over as Sporting Director at Austin FC in another coup for MLS.

He replaces Claudio Reyna, who departed the role as part of the fallout from his family feud with USA coach Gregg Berhalter following the World Cup.

The move is an eye-catching one for both Austin itself and Major League Soccer as the league looks to enhance its reputation across the globe. He leaves City after the sensational treble winning season, where he played a central role working with Guardiola.

City director Txiki Begiristain said: ‘I would like to wish Rodolfo the best of luck in his new role at Austin FC.

‘He has played a significant role in the club’s achievements over the past nine years, both as Global Technical Director and after joining Pep Guardiola’s backroom team.

‘The manager has often spoken about how important his coaching staff have been in helping him and the team achieve what we have. Rodolfo has, of course, been a major part of that during his time at Manchester City.

‘I have every confidence that he will be a huge asset to both Austin FC and United States soccer.’

Borrell said: ‘I’m very excited to join Austin FC. It’s an ambitious club in a vibrant city with fantastic fan support and great ownership. 

‘I look forward to working closely with the coaches, staff, and players to help this organization win trophies and establish itself as a consistently elite team in Major League Soccer.’

Borrell’s arrival comes in the aftermath of Lionel Messi and his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets joining Inter Miami. Miami and Austin meet in MLS on Saturday.

And Borrell has close ties to Messi, having worked with him at Barcelona when he was a teenager in the Under 14 team.

Speaking to the Daily Express in 2012, Borrell said: ‘I was the first coach of Lionel Messi when he came [to Barcelona] in 2000-01. He was very small.

‘When I saw him I thought he was extraordinary, like now. At this time, the problem was not his quality. But, in 2000-01, the dilemma was whether it was right to bring a boy of 13 from Argentina to Spain, to take him from his own environment.

‘Nowadays this is a normal thing. Go to Barca and you will see an African boy of 12 years old, a Korean aged 11. Things like that.

‘In 2000-01, this was not normal. The only issue was this one. No one had any doubt about his quality. His quality was extraordinary, so very extraordinary, that the club decided to take steps forward.’

He also served as a Liverpool academy coach for four-and-a-half years before heading to City.

Borrell initially joined City in March 2014 as international technical director, working on relations between the Manchester club and their partner teams abroad, including New York City and Melbourne City in the Australian A-League.

He then became an academy coach, working with City’s youth teams from under-9s to under-21s, before being brought into the first team coaching staff by Guardiola when he became manager in 2016. 

Borrell was brought to Liverpool by Rafa Benitez in 2009, having spent 13 years with La Liga giants Barcelona. 

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