MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini said he had “no regrets” about missing out on the Liverpool job in 2010.
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The Chilean, now in charge of Manchester City, was interviewed by Liverpool when they were looking for a replacement for Rafa Benitez.
But the Merseyside club preferred Roy Hodgson, and Pellegrini, who had just been sacked by Real Madrid, went on to manage first Malaga and then City, who face Liverpool on Sunday in a meeting of two title rivals.
“After I finished with Real Madrid, I had a conversation with Liverpool,” Pellegrini said in his news conference. “I have no regrets because I now have the chance to manage Manchester City. It is in the past, not the future.”
Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who played for Pellegrini at Villarreal, revealed in his 2010 autobiography that he had recommended the Chilean to then managing director Christian Purslow.
He wrote: “He was available and we needed a manager. For me, it made perfect sense. I said so, telling Purslow that Pellegrini was the right man.
"It wasn’t just because I knew him. It was more about the style of football that he plays, getting teams to attack all the time.
“Pellegrini has an attacking mentality and, when Purslow asked me about him, I said: ‘He’s a great manager and a great man in the dressing room.’ He would never sit deep and just accept being put under pressure by opponents.
“I know that the club spoke to Pellegrini a couple of times when they were looking for a new manager because he told me.”