Pep Guardiola has explained that Manchester City could not offer the playing time that Ian Carlo Poveda wants after the youngster completed his move to Leeds United in the January transfer window.
Poveda was seen as one of the brightest prospects in the City academy after joining from Brentford in 2016; he was bumped up to train with the first team under Guardiola and Raheem Sterling was among the senior players to wish him well for his next move.
However, despite impressing on pre-season tours his only appearance for the senior team came in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final last season where the Blues won 1-0 at Burton to make it 10-0 on aggregate.
With the player entering the last six months of his contract, City were open to Poveda either leaving the club in January or at the end of the season. Leeds have not paid any money up front to sign the 19-year-old but could shell out up to £1m based on the number of appearances he makes. City will also get 30 per cent of a future sale and will be notified if any bids are made and offered the opportunity to match it.
Guardiola was asked after the Fulham game why City had let Poveda go and went on to explain why he thinks Leeds will be a good fit.
"Because he's young, he has to play, he's not able [to play here] and Leeds is an incredible challenge to be training with one of the best managers in the world in terms of how he helps players to be better players," said the manager. "For the way Leeds play it should suit his qualities perfectly.
"I didn't speak with Ian but either way it's a really good decision for him."
