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Graham Hunter, Guillem Balague, Alan McInally and Didi Hamann assess Pep Guardiola's switch to Bayern Munich

Pep Guardiola will end his football hiatus in July by taking charge of Bayern Munich. Read below for our experts' thoughts on why the ex-Barcelona chief plumped for Germany - and rejected Chelsea...

Image: Guardiola: will join Bayern Munich on three-year deal in July

Graham Hunter - Spanish-football journalist and Revista pundit

Alan McInally - Sky Sports pundit and ex-Bayern Munich striker

"Bayern, who probably should have been champions of Europe last year, have a vision, and have done for some time, about getting to the top and staying there, and so to get Guardiola - who everybody in the footballing world wanted as their next coach - is wonderful for the club. For 10 years, Bayern have had the best youth set-up in Germany, if not Europe and the under-14 squad play the same way and have the same ethos as the senior team. "Guardiola, who has done so much with young players at Barca, will have free rein with the process, while he'll also be given a massive say on which players he wants to bring in. He will have money, too, because Bayern are very, very wealthy on a world scale. Guardiola will probably be taking charge of the German champions when he joins in July and he will be looking to do even better - though there will be more pressure on the club with him as manager."

Dietmar Hamann - ex-Bayern Munich midfielder

"Guardiola was the most sought after manager in world football and for him to choose Bayern over some of the biggest teams in the world is a major statement, not only for Bayern Munich but also for the Bundesliga. The Bundesliga and the German national team have grown in strength over the last five, six years; there were seven German clubs involved in European competition this season, and all seven reached the knockout stages. "The league and German football as a whole is clearly on the up and for Bayern Munich to secure the services of Guardiola is a major coup. He's got a fantastic CV, he made Barcelona near enough unbeatable over the last five or six years - but he has to prove it all again now in a foreign country. He's not managed outside of Spain so far and the language could be an issue, but apart from that I don't see any problems really because Bayern Munich have a fantastic squad, they've been in two Champions League finals in the last three years, they're going very well in the league this season and they've got a squad not far away from Barcelona and Real Madrid."

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