City Xtra
·31 July 2024
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·31 July 2024
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that one member of his first-team squad has been issuing him with glowing reports on Barcelona’s latest wonderkid.
The Premier League champions went head to head with the La Liga giants on Tuesday night, on an evening that was substantially delayed by electrical storms in the Orlando, Florida area, pushing the kick-off time back to 1:20am for viewers in the UK.
Both sides fielded heavily depleted line-ups, with Manchester City’s system featuring the likes of Kalvin Phillips in a central defensive role, whilst Barcelona were absent of all of their senior players, despite late appearances for the likes of Robert Lewandowski.
As such, there was no opportunity for Pep Guardiola in particular to view a number of hot talents emerging from the infamous La Masia at Camping World Stadium, amid glowing reviews from some of his teammates in recent weeks.
Speaking to reporters on Monday night ahead of Manchester City’s penultimate pre-season friendly of their 2024 US tour, Pep Guardiola revealed that Rodri has been keeping him in the loop on the talents and development of Barcelona wonderkid, Lamine Yamal.
“Rodri tells me great things about Lamine Yamal,” Pep Guardiola revealed to reporters in Orlando, Florida, ahead of Tuesday’s clash at Camping World Stadium. “He’s exceptional,” the Etihad boss continued.
Manchester City were claimed to have ‘went all out’ in September 2023 to try and sign Yamal during the summer, but were ultimately unsuccessful, whilst the efforts – according to Spanish media – to sign the player did not go down well with the La Liga club.
Since then, Yamal’s output for the Catalan giants and for the Spanish national team has seen his stock soar in the game, and it is likely to be almost impossible for the player to be lured away from the Camp Nou side, especially without a desire to leave.
Manchester City will certainly be content with their own emerging talents this summer however, with the likes of Oscar Bobb, Nico O’Reilly, and James McAtee earning rave reviews for their performances in the United States.