“I don’t want to sell him” – Pep Guardiola reveals strong message to sporting director over Manchester City star

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed the very clear message he personally sent to the club’s sporting director over the future of one player this summer.

The Catalan tactician has seen very little in the way of new arrivals into his four-time successive Premier League title-winning squad this summer, with just the one new signing secured by Etihad Stadium bosses.

Brazil international Savinho was brought into the club earlier this year in a deal understood to be worth a total potential package of £33.6 million including add-ons from fellow City Football Group side Troyes.

But while many supporters have been calling for new options in the middle of the park, with Rodrigo highlighting clear demands for increased rest and understanding for his physical exertion last campaign, the club are yet to move.

Instead, Pep Guardiola has officially promoted two new youth stars into his first-team set-up for the season, with Nico O’Reilly – who is expected to operate in defensive midfield – accompanied by versatile playmaker, James McAtee.

Speaking over the weekend with the media, Pep Guardiola was very clear on the futures of two key first-team stars including Oscar Bobb, but particularly James McAtee, admitting that both youngsters have the capabilities to perform consistently in his first-team squad.

“They have the standards to be here. They have it,” Guardiola said. “I’ve known them for, especially (James) McAtee, a long time ago. And (against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield) he played really good.”

“And Oscar (Bobb), we saw it last season. The most important thing with these type of players, young players is that they have the confidence of their teammates, the squad. And they adore them, and they can rely on them – that is the most important thing.”

Guardiola continued, “And Oscar made a fantastic game, like all of pre-season, and McAtee – the first two games in the States was not good – but the third, especially the fourth, and today he made the McAtee that we want him to be.”

When quizzed on his thoughts regarding James McAtee in particular, and the Englishman’s future within the Manchester City first-team, Pep Guardiola explained the very clear message he directly sent to the club’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain on the player.

“The first games (from James McAtee in pre-season) I didn’t like it much, and I tell him afterwards and said, ‘Your impact in the game is not big, I want more’. And after I think he did well, and today was really good,” said Guardiola.

“I think he’s a player that comes from the (Manchester City) Academy, he knows all the processes, how he moves in the pockets, and I think his period in Sheffield helped him a lot, to give value of how difficult is football, suffering to get points, the physicality, winning duels, defending deep – this kind of stuff.

“In the Academy at City, they don’t do that. So I think it helped him a lot playing there. But when you find a player in the small spaces that attack the final third, their sense of goal, it’s difficult to find these kind of players, and McAtee has this quality.”

Guardiola closed, “That’s why I said to Txiki (Begiristain) at the beginning of the season, I don’t want to loan him, I don’t want to sell him because I need him. He has a specific quality in small spaces and James Macca has this ability.”

It remains to be seen just how much game time James McAtee is able to secure for Manchester City this season, however the player himself has already confirmed to the media that he is now more willing to be patient when it comes to opportunities for the Premier League champions.