Barcelona: Barcelona defender Dani Alves has hailed former coach and present Bayern Munich tactician Pep Guardiola as a ‘football Einstein’ and says he will surely succeed at Manchester City.

Guardiola is supposed to take over from Manuel Pellegrini at City next season. When the Spaniard was at Camp Nou, Alves had spent four seasons under him.

‘His secret is he gets you to see things differently. He is a football Einstein. For him it’s a change and that’s what he likes. Guardiola likes to move to places where he can make a revolution. I have no doubt that he is going to achieve it because he is a freak of football,’ Alves was quoted as saying by goal.com on Saturday.

‘(He will want) everything his way and when you get to a place where they are going to allow that - because in England they respect that - it will be ideal for him.’

City have come in the forefront of the Premier League in the last few years but they have been unsuccessful in creating an impact in the Champions League. Alves believes Guardiola will have to bring in players who are willing to follow his style of football, only then will City be able to challenge for Champions League silverware.

‘It will be difficult because he will have to find the pieces. It was difficult for Guardiola when he left from here because he had a philosophy and knew players were going to follow him. Elsewhere, they are of a different mentality. If you have a puzzle and cannot find the right pieces, the thing will never fit,’ he said.