Ander Herrera: Pep Guardiola will face huge pressure in Premier League

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has welcomed the impending arrival of Pep Guardiola to the Premier League but believes the pressure on his fellow Spaniard to be a success at Manchester City will be huge.

Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini as City boss 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, Herrera is pleased to see the 45-year-old coming to England - but he also 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,” said Herrera.

“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’s 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.

It remains to be seen if Van Gaal will still be in charge next season, with Jose Mourinho being touted as a possible replacement - some reports this week even suggesting a deal has already been struck for the Portuguese to take over at Old Trafford in the summer.

It has been suggested that Mourinho’s style of play might not fit with United, who have traditionally preferred attack-minded football, but Herrera sees no evidence to suggest that the former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss is negative.