There is a great level of respect within Manchester City for Pep Guardiola. Since the Spaniard’s arrival in 2016, the Manchester-based club has reached unprecedented heights. As a result of this success, Guardiola is now a bonafide Manchester City legend.
However, beyond just creating a team that is full of well-scouted arrivals from the transfer market, Guardiola has not allowed the club’s youth academy to work in vain. Almost every year, the Spanish coach has given opportunities to the most exciting talents within Manchester City.
One of those lucky few players happens to be Rico Lewis, a versatile 19-year-old English player who is gradually rising to stardom within the Manchester City first team. A standout graduate of the club’s academy, Lewis became one of Guardiola’s most trusted youngsters last season.
Now, in an interview with Sky Sports, Lewis had nothing but praise for Guardiola and shared just how influential the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has been for him:
“He’s one of the best, and in my opinion the best manager to ever manage. For me, I couldn’t get any more information out of him if I could. Everything he says to me I listen to it, whether it’s a small detail or a big detail.”
However, he made sure to highlight that Manchester City would not be the competitive beast that they are today without Guardiola’s constant pressure to keep on improving and to right the wrongs at any given point within the club:
“Every year he tells us it’s not enough. Even though we’ve done so much, it’s not enough. Like I said before, it’s the standard we’ve set for ourselves. He makes sure that if he senses or thinks that anyone believes that it’s over or they can slack off, he lets them know it’s not good enough.”
For Lewis, it is clear that Manchester City owes a lot of their success to Pep Guardiola. Even the player himself believes that he is who he is today all because of the Catalan coach’s guidance. Time will tell just how high his own ceiling is, and just how much more success Guardiola can bring to the blue club in Manchester.
