Txiki Begiristain has just given Man City a new contract priority - even Pep Guardiola agrees

International breaks are normally black holes for Manchester City news. Two days into the October break and the Blues have inflicted a monumental legal victory over the Premier League and now their influential director of football is set to leave.

News broke on Tuesday night of Txiki Begiristain's intention to step down at the end of the season. It comes as no surprise to his colleagues at City, with his plans well-known for a number of years. Begiristain turned 60 in August and is said to be ready for a less-intensive lifestyle.

His potential exit has been a very realistic possibility within the City Football Academy for some time, so City have had time to prepare a succession plan. Indeed, reports say a replacement has already been lined up and will begin work in early 2025, ensuring a transitional period to minimise the disruption of such a key figure.

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The natural question is how Begiristain's exit will impact Pep Guardiola's future. Given how little of a surprise the news will be inside the club, Guardiola will have been aware of his colleague's intention throughout his decision-making process. In that respect, nothing has changed in regard to the factors Guardiola will be weighing up over his own future.

Guardiola has worked without Begiristain before, too. Begiristain left Barcelona two years before Guardiola did, and wasn't at Bayern Munich when Guardiola was there. While City must future-proof their hierarchy for life without Guardiola, any new sporting director must surely be able to work with him should the manager be persuaded to sign an extension.

For that reason, the director of football appointment is now arguably more important than Guardiola's contract. Getting Guardiola to stay is obviously the aim, but even if he did extend, it would almost certainly be his last contract. Begiristain's replacement will either be starting the post-Pep era, or oversee the transition from Guardiola to his successor later down the line.

This decision will play a significant role in how City want to operate when Guardiola does leave. How they want to play. Which players they want to sign.

Guardiola speaks with Begiristain daily. Begiristain watches training often and ventures down to the dressing room to see the coaches after most matchdays. For example, last season, after the high-quality 1-1 draw at Liverpool, Begiristain and CEO Ferran Soriano waited outside the away dressing room and chatted, greeting players as they exited, chatting with assistant Carlos Vicens, and then with Guardiola once his media obligations were finished.

If Guardiola stays, he would surely expect a similar line of communication. If he goes, the new sporting director would potentially benefit from a clean slate - but with the pressure of keeping up the success of the Begiristain-Guardiola era without the two men.

Guardiola himself would agree that Begiristain's replacement is more important than his own future. To paraphrase his regular press conference assertions: he never signed a player with his own money. He never scored a goal for City. Begiristain identifies and makes the transfers, sorts contract extensions, and sanctions exits. Guardiola has an input, of course, but the players who have made City into the world-class side they are were all brought to the club by the man now set to leave.

It remains to be seen if the man who managed them will follow. But whoever replaces Begiristain will arguably dictate the next era at Manchester City far more than whoever is in the dugout.