Pep Guardiola can see signs of improvement from new-look Manchester City | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola is confident Manchester City’s £320million rebuild will pay dividends following a poor start to the new Premier League season.

City have splashed the cash on a host of signings since the beginning of the year but have begun the 2025/26 campaign with two defeats from three games.

Guardiola’s side finished 13 points adrift of champions Liverpool last term and are already six points off the pace this time around after Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Brighton followed a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham.

Despite the adverse results, the Spaniard has been encouraged by some aspects of his new-look team’s play and feels there are signs of improvement.

“We changed a lot last season and this season,” said City boss Guardiola, whose side host Manchester United after the international break.

“But we have a firm base, a base which is still really, very good, and the new players are really good too.

“It’s a question of clicking and finding momentum to start winning games and that is going to happen.

“Now we have a deficit of six points and we have to continue to go up.

“I have a good feeling with many, many things. I have the feeling we are more active, we are more in a good moment compared to last season.

“But last season we lost against Spurs and Brighton and this season it happened the same.”

City were in complete control at the Amex Stadium and led thanks to Erling Haaland marking his 100th Premier League outing with an 88th goal.

But James Milner’s 67th-minute penalty swung the momentum before fellow Brighton substitute Brajan Gruda struck a last-gasp winner.

In a major positive for City, 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri completed a full 90 minutes in the league for the first time since May last year.

The 29-year-old Spain midfielder insists he alone cannot revive the club’s fortunes.

“I’m not Messi; I’m not going to come back and just make the team win and win and win,” he told Sky Sports.

“This is a collective. When we won in the past, I needed all my team-mates.

“I need to recover my best level and we have to look to all of ourselves. Hopefully after the break we can be much better.”

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler is excited by the potential of match-winner Gruda, who also scored in last week’s 6-0 Carabao Cup success at Oxford.

“This can be a signal for him that if he trains hard, if he plays consistent, if he pushes his limit, he can be a game-changer for every team in the world,” said Hurzeler.

“He has special things inside of him. Now it’s important he proves it consistently.”

Milner, 39, became the second-oldest goal scorer in Premier League history, having considered retirement in the summer following a long injury lay-off.

“His mentality is something special, his mentality is something only real, real big achievers in life have,” said Hurzeler.

“He can be a role model for everyone, not only for football players. He has this special thing inside that made his personality so strong.”