Pep Guardiola says he’s been so impressed with £30m Man City player this season.

Pep Guardiola says he’s been so impressed with £30m Man City player this season.

Pep Guardiola has said that he’s been so impressed by one particular Manchester City player this season.

The Manchester club are approaching the end of another Premier League campaign, one that could see them being crowned league champions for a fourth time in a row.

With the squad having had some big changes made to it during the previous summer transfer window with certain players moving in and out of the club, the manager has pinpointed one fairly new arrival that he has been particularly impressed by this season.

Guardiola says recent Man City arrival has had a really good season

Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images
READ MORE: Man City squad numbers for the 2023/24 season and shirt numbers available for new signings
Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of City’s away match against Fulham, Guardiola had this to say when asked to share his assessment of Mateo Kovacic’s debut season with the Manchester club.

He said: “He played really, really, really well. When he plays, because we play in a certain we, he was really good.

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“His contribution, especially in the last games was massively important, he changed the games. In that terms, he’s really, really good.”

The Blues spent £30m to sign the midfielder from fellow Premier League side Chelsea last summer.

Since then, the 30-year-old has featured in 42 games for City in all competitions, starting 27 of them.

Across those 42 games, Kovacic has chipped in with three goals and one assist.

Kovacic has shown his quality for City in the Premier League
With 27 Premier League games under his belt for the Citizens, the Croatian has shown how capable he is when it comes to passing the ball around the pitch accurately.

Specifically, out of the 1350 passes he’s attempted, 1265 of them have been completed, giving Kovacic a passing accuracy percentage of 93.7%, the third-highest in the entire league, leaving only Thiago Silva (94.8%) and Micky van de Ven (94.6%) with higher ones.

In recent weeks, the midfielder has completed the full 90 minutes in three out of City’s four previous Premier League games, which shows how much Guardiola sees him as a key figure for the team, particularly in such a crucial stage of the campaign.

Moving forward, if Kovacic plays a big role in City’s final three league games of the season and helps them win the title, this will undoubtedly be seen as being a successful debut season for the former Chelsea star.

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NEWSReport: Representatives of Manchester City transfer target ‘considering legal action’ against the FAPublished: 13:15 on May 10th 2024 | Last Updated: 10:10 on May 10th 2024By Freddie Pye
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The representatives of one of Manchester City’s main transfer targets for this summer, Lucas Paqueta, are reportedly ‘considering legal action’ against the FA.

Manchester City are expected to revive their interest in Paqueta this summer, having failed to bring the Brazilian international to the Etihad Stadium towards the end of the last summer market.

While it was understood that City and West Ham were closing in on a total agreement over a deal for the player, the emergence of an active FA investigation into gambling allegations led to the Premier League champions immediately withdrawing from talks.

As such, Manchester City moved on to sign Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers, although Etihad bosses are likely to return for Paqueta in the event that his investigation leads to nothing serious.

But the representatives of the 26-year-old playmaker have already been left aggrieved by the matter, and continue to be concerned that off-the-field issues could cost them a significant opportunity to join arguably the finest footballing project on the planet at present.

According to the information of TBR Football, the representatives of Lucas Paqueta are ‘considering legal action’ against the Football Association, threatening a case of potential ‘loss of earnings’ if they are again denied the chance of joining Manchester City.

As it stands, the FA have refused to confirm if a verdict on the case of gambling allegations would be delivered in time for Paqueta to move this summer, with Manchester City understood to be retaining transfer interest from the last summer market.

Manchester City will have no problem turning their attentions elsewhere, should a deal for Lucas Paqueta not be possible in the coming months, with the likes of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle also on their wishlist.

A more ambitious move in the market could see City swoop for Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, however the general feeling within the Etihad Stadium is that the German midfielder is more likely to stay at the Allianz Arena.

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Man City handed title race advantage over Arsenal they haven’t had all season
Manchester City take on Fulham and Tottenham this week in two trips to London in four days, before returning for the final fixture of the Premier League season next week against West Ham.

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ByJoe BrayManchester City writer
04:00, 10 MAY 2024
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Manchester City have only had three games all season when they can claim to have a fully-fit squad – with each having caveats.

The trip to Brentford saw no major injuries, but Sergio Gomez was missing, just like last weekend when Oscar Bobb didn’t make the squad vs Wolves. Even with everyone fit, one outfield player would have to miss out, so Guardiola was still able to select his strongest side. The other occasion was the home fixture in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

However on that occasion, City ended the night with injury and fitness concerns to Kevin De Bruyne, Manu Akanji and Manu Akanji, with Haaland missing two games as a result.

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So it is a boost to come through the Wolves game with no further injury concerns, and for the squad to return to training this week with a full bill of health. The Fulham trip this weekend could see City enter consecutive games with no injury concerns for the first time since last season’s run-in 12 months ago.

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Pep Guardiola granted his players a few days off between Saturday evening and Wednesday’s training session, giving players the opportunity to rest and relax ahead of a busy final week of the Premier League season.

Some players jetted off abroad for the final time this season, while others remained closer to home. City will now prepare to face Fulham on Saturday at midday before returning to London on Tuesday to face Tottenham.

To have a squad with no injury or fitness concerns – boosted by having two fixtures over the previous 13 days – gives Guardiola a boost that he could not have timed better ahead of the final three games of the season.

Guardiola will want to settle on a strongest XI in time for the Spurs trip and West Ham finale which could mean there is some rotation at Fulham. The squad will then have six days following the final day to recover and prepare for the FA Cup final at Wembley vs Manchester United.

Guardiola will give a more detailed update on his squad on Friday when he previews the Fulham fixture.

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Oliver Kahn knows exactly how Manuel Neuer feels after Bayern Munich’s disappointing loss to Real Madrid
Manuel Neuer will have to shake off that moment.

By CSmith1919@TheBarrelBlog May 10, 2024, 1:30am CEST 2 Comments / 2 New
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Real Madrid v FC Bayern München: Semi-final Second Leg – UEFA Champions League 2023/24
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Former Bayern Munich goalkeeper and CEO Oliver Kahn knows the pain of making a mistake in a high profile match.

Back in the 2002 World Cup final, Kahn made a gaffe, which he labeled as “10 times worse than any mistake I’ve ever made.”

To this day, Kahn probably feels the pain of his mistake during Brazil’s win over Germany, so if there anyone who can understand how Neuer feels after a series of mistakes which led to the game-tying goal against Real Madrid, it is Kahn.

“In 2002 we still had time. Unfortunately, Manuel made the mistake in the 88th minute. Before that he made great saves. That’s part of the goalkeeper’s brutal life. Manuel is experienced enough to handle it. Bayern were close, I feel for the boys,” Kahn told Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).

Neuer was fantastic against Madrid until that point. A poor decision on a long throw ultimately left to Neuer spilling a shot attempt right to Joselu. It will be a sequence that Neuer will not soon forget.

Now, Neuer must regroup, but not for this season, but the EURO 2024 competition where Germany will need him in top form.

Looking for more discussion on the game? We’ve got all of the thoughts and analysis you need with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show! Check out our takes on Thomas Tuchel’s lineup, how the match played out, and why Real Madrid was able to squeak out (maybe with a little help) a victory in the Champions League. Get the show on Spotify or below:

As always, we appreciate all the support!

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Jurgen Klopp’s final act at Liverpool could be to hand Man City the perfect title race motivation
Outgoing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has attempted to rewrite history by claiming a trophy won at Anfield is worth five more than any other club.

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ByJoe BrayManchester City writer
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When Trent Alexander-Arnold claimed that winning trophies at Liverpool ‘means more’ than Manchester City’s recent successes, the Blues squad couldn’t believe what they were reading.

Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias and Manu Akanji all criticised the comments with a disbelieving tone. Dias said: “You can only have certain emotions if you actually win stuff. A Treble is a feeling you can only know how it feels when you actually do it.”

Akanji added: “He can’t tell because he didn’t win it. If he won three or five titles in one year, like we did last year, then he can speak again. Haaland agreed: “I’ve been here one year and won the Treble and it was quite a nice feeling, I do not think he knows exactly this feeling. So yeah, that is what I felt last season and it was quite nice.”

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At the time, Jurgen Klopp defended Alexander-Arnold’s right to the opinion, saying there was ‘nothing wrong’ with the comments, before insisting that there is absolutely no disrespect from Liverpool towards City.

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He added: “What would you think in that situation? One of our slogan, which I love, is ‘This Means More’, and it means more – to us. We have no clue what it means to other people but what happens here means more to us.”

Now, Klopp has joined Alexander-Arnold in saying his one Premier League title at Anfield is worth as much as five with another club. Here we go again.

“I really think there’s a Liverpool way,” said Klopp this week. “When you win one time with Liverpool, it is worth as much as five with another club. To experience a good moment is really good. To experience a good moment with a lot of people together is a completely different level, and the same is with the bad moments. So that is really special.”

Klopp will leave Liverpool with seven titles to his name (or 35 in his head) – one Premier League title, one FA Cup, one Carabao Cup, one Champions League, one Club World Cup and one UEFA Super Cup. In the same time, City have only won five Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, four Carabao Cups, the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup. So far.

Of course, like his right-back, Klopp is not speaking to anyone outside of Liverpool fans when saying things like this. He knows the comments are ridiculous to outsiders, but serve to increase his bond with his own fans at the end of a farewell season that hasn’t gone to plan. He is attempting to rewrite history and secure his legacy – who wouldn’t. He is speaking the Liverpool language, and is not aiming his comments at City or anyone else.

But like when Alexander-Arnold spoke, City players are paying attention. With Liverpool out of the title race, City know four wins from four can see them take their trophy collection up to 16 as they attempt to catch Klopp’s incredible 35 titles. If they saw Alexander-Arnold’s comments as controversial, taking away their experiences of actually winning trophies, they could also do the same with Klopp’s latest interview.

Another Premier League title would take some in the squad up to six winners’ medals like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden. Ask them, and they would take the actual memories of winning more than five titles rather than the dreams of doing so over at Anfield.

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