English Premier League outfit Manchester City has denied the reports that new manager Pep Guardiola would not be able to sign players from the former club he managed, Bayern Munich.

Douglas Costa made the shocking claims but the club said no such thing exists.
Costa told Globo Esporte, a Brazilian television network, that his former coach would not be able to sign players from the Bundesliga club. He said:

"Would I be open to City if Pep called? It's something he has in his contract, a clause that says he cannot sign any players from Bayern.”

The statement drew concern to the terms that the coach could have agreed to forcing the club to come out to make a statement on the facts. They bluntly denied such contract clauses that would prevent the incoming coach from bringing any player from the Allianz Arena to the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola has already signed Ilkay Gundogan from the German club’s long-standing Bundesliga rival, Borussia Dortmund. Costa also hinted that he could remain with the German club for long, saying he has grown since leaving Shakhtar for Bayern. He added that he is enjoying his time at the club as he did not expect that he would become so important right away. However, Costa who Guardiola signed last summer backed the coach to do great things at the club.

Guardiola has even made Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a summer transfer target, after signing Gundogan from the same club. The forward is priced at £58million but the Germans rejected City’s initial bid, they remain hopeful of wining over the 26-year-old Gabonese striker.

Guardiola has the full backing of the entire City board who want to return to winning ways. The Chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak even said he believes the Spaniard would transform the club to meet expectations.