Pep Guardiola reveals plan for promotion of teenager to Manchester City’s first-team after pre-season performance

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hinted at future opportunities for teenage star Nico O’Reilly, after an impressive performance against Barcelona.

The 19-year-old was on the scoresheet for Manchester City during Tuesday’s pre-season friendly against FC Barcelona at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, as the Sky Blues suffered a penalty shoot-out loss during their third match of the US tour.

O’Reilly scored in the 39th minute to cancel out Pau Victor’s opening goal, with the teenager starting the match for Manchester City alongside Mateo Kovacic in a deeper midfield role.

The teenager was replaced during the second-half, as Pep Guardiola’s side drew 2-2 with the La Liga giants prior to suffering a 4-1 shoot-out defeat, after misses from both Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright.

Jack Grealish equalised for Manchester City in the second-half with an emphatic strike, although Barcelona regained the lead just before half-time after Pablo Torre’s dipping effort.

O’Reilly was one of the standout performers during the friendly clash, becoming the latest City Football Academy star to impress during pre-season, and potentially set to follow in the footsteps of Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb.

The teenager has never previously made a competitive Manchester City appearance, but could be set to make his debut this season, based off comments by Guardiola following Tuesday’s game against Barcelona.

“Nico O’Reilly will be a player,” said the Catalan post-match.

“Normally in the academy all the players are like Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb (short). Now it’s nice to have Nico (tall). It’s the work of the Manchester City academy, we are blessed.”

The 19-year-old could feature again for Manchester City this weekend, when the Blues conclude their four-match tour of the United States in Ohio with a friendly against Premier League rivals Chelsea.