Manchester City have confirmed that Hugo Viana will replace Txiki Begiristain as the club's new director of football at the end of the season.
It emerged earlier this week that Begiristain, 60, was set to leave after the current campaign with Viana, currently at Sporting Lisbon, likely to succeed him.
And the Premier League champions have now confirmed that will be the case with Viana and Begiristain set to collaborate in the coming months in order to ensure a smooth transition.
A statement confirming the news on Saturday afternoon read: "Manchester City can confirm that Txiki Begiristain will step away from his full-time role as Director of Football at the end of the 2024/25 season.
"Following a trophy-laden twelve years at the Etihad Stadium, Txiki will leave his current post following the Club’s involvement in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup and will be succeeded by Hugo Viana of Sporting CP.
"Viana will begin his full-time role in the summer of 2025, but will collaborate with Txiki in the preceding months to ensure a smooth transition.
"We look forward to paying tribute to Txiki’s outstanding contribution to Manchester City at the end of the season."
Viana, 41, made 39 appearances in the Premier League for Newcastle during his playing days and has become a key figure at Sporting since hanging up his boots. He has been in situ with the Portuguese giants since 2018 and currently works closely with their highly coveted head coach, Ruben Amorim.
He faces a tall task replacing Begiristain, though, who has played an influential role in Manchester City's success since joining the club from Barcelona back in 2012.
Begiristain was influential in luring Pep Guardiola to The Etihad and is known to be a close ally of the Spaniard, who's own future at City is currently unclear amid speculation he could choose to stand down at the end of the season.
City are chasing a record-extending fifth consecutive Premier League title under Guardiola's stewardship, while the former Barcelona chief also guided them to a maiden Champions League triumph back in June 2023.
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