Here are your Manchester City morning headlines for Friday, 2 October.
Manchester City opens up on new centre-back signing
Pep Guardiola has given his verdict on new Manchester City centre-back Ruben Dias following the Portugal international’s £65.2million signing from Benfica.
The Blues handed Dias a six-year contract, with the 23-year-old linking up with his new City teammates in training on Thursday. Guardiola opened on the signing and praised the club for getting a deal over the line.
“We know his personality and I’m pretty sure he will be an incredible player for this club for the next five, six, seven years,” he said.
“My compliments to the club for making this effort to get him because now our back four is a young, young group.”
Leeds United boss explains why criticism of Pep Guardiola is wrong
Marcelo Bielsa has denied he is a “mentor” to Pep Guardiola, but explained why the biggest criticism of the Manchester City manager is wrong.
City visit Elland Road on Saturday with much of the pre-match build up focusing on the relationship between the two managers, with Bielsa widely credited as a major influence on Guardiola as a coach.
While Bielsa denied he is a mentor to Guardiola, he did provide a detailed answer on why Guardiola would still succeed at a club without money.
“First of all, he’s imaginative,” he said. “He is able to instantly create solutions to problems he comes across. Another thing that distinguishes him as a top coach is what he proposes he’s able to implement. You praise someone it’s important to argue why because if not it’s mere empathy.
“We imagine football in an obedient manner. Guardiola imagined football in a freedom type of way. To imagine football this way doesn’t mean footballers are going to act in the same way. To propose a solution to the game.
“They don’t need a lot of time to incorporate it. I don’t know too many coaches who would also be deserving of this type of praise.”
England manager explains omission of City midfielder from squad
Gareth Southgate has explained why Phil Foden, along with Mason Greenwood, has been omitted from the latest England squad.
Foden and Greenwood both made their international debuts in the UEFA Nations League game against Iceland last month, but were sent home before England travelled to Denmark for an “unacceptable” breach of COVID-19 rules.
The City and United youngsters were missing from the England squad announced on Thursday for the games against Wales, Belgium and Denmark, and Southgate has explained why.
“They’re two very talented players,” he said. “I think with what happened there are two parts. One is we have to send a message to all players in our teams at every age level that that isn’t how we do things with England.
“But then we have to rehabilitate these two boys. Young people will make mistakes. I do a lot of work with the Prince’s Trust and they’re brilliant at helping youngsters get back on their feet when things haven’t gone right.”
