Abelardo: 'Pep Guardiola is just a normal guy'

Former Barcelona player and teammate of Pep Guardiola has insisted that the new Bayern Munich coach's best quality is that he is just a "normal" person.

Abelardo also said that Guardiola is intelligent enough not to rush into any changes and would only make replacements to his squad where necessary.

"He's a completely normal, simple guy who can also be really sociable," Abelardo told Bundesliga.com. "We always used to meet up, go to restaurants together or out on an evening. He's highly intelligent and always wants to squeeze the maximum out of everything. You only have to look at what he did at Barcelona.

"I think he'll take a very close look at all the players and draw his own conclusions. Obviously he's well aware how difficult it's going to be to top Jupp Heynckes's incredible season.

"He knows as well that, just like at Barcelona, he's inheriting a top-notch squad and has a great working environment in which to try and achieve the club's targets. If he'd had any serious doubts, he simply wouldn't have taken the job."

Heynckes won the treble in his final season at the club.