Revealed: Manchester City to welcome new attacking midfielder to Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad this week | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City squad will welcome a fresh face and new attacking midfield talent to their first-team set-up this week, it has been revealed.

The reigning Premier League champions are in desperate need of a resurgence in form during the second-half of the ongoing campaign in order to keep their top priority targets alive until the end of the season.

Having now exited the Carabao Cup, UEFA Champions League, and Premier League title race, the sole priorities for Pep Guardiola and his players are top-four in the English top-flight and perhaps success in the FA Cup.

The latter is being seen as a rare opportunity for silverware in a damaging season across competitions, and having defeated Salford City, Leyton Orient, and facing Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round at home, hopes of trophy success are well and truly alive.

And while Txiki Begiristain and his transfer colleagues worked tirelessly to refresh key areas of Pep Guardiola’s squad during the January transfer window, a piece of business agreed over 12 months ago is now finally becoming a reality.

That concerns Argentina youth international star Claudio Echeverri, who is now set to link-up with Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad this week after stellar performances for his country’s Under-20 side en route to a place as runners-up in the South American Championship.

The current expectation is that the 19-year-old attacking midfielder will appear in Manchester City training for the first time on Thursday, after the club have completed their outing against Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

That would then, in theory, put Echeverri’s name into the hat for a potential matchday squad appearance in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday evening when Plymouth Argyle of the Championship visit the Etihad Stadium.

However, those supporting the club who may be excited about the prospect of Echeverri becoming the latest South American superstar at the Etihad Stadium must almost certainly be patient, particularly after Pep Guardiola’s latest comments on the matter.

The City head coach told reporters during a press conference this week on the former River Plate wonderkid, “He’s here soon. He’s going to start training and mainly will be for the end of the season, (Club) World Cup. As soon as possible he arrives, he can adapt quick for future.”