The player who caught the most attention of Pep Guardiola in Japan
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City
Manchester City triumphed in their first friendly in Tokyo. Pep Guardiola’s team won 5-3 against Marinos and left important flashes for the next season. One of Pep Guardiola’s great objectives was precisely to see how his team arrived at these duels after his vacation, and despite the goals from Haaland and Julian Alvarez, there is a player who impressed Pep the most.
After the departure of their captain Gundogan to FC Barcelona, Manchester City was able to find solace in the signing of Mateo Kovacic. The talented Croatian arrives at the Manchester club after his stage with Chelsea FC where he came to stand out in an important way and now, he is already under the orders of Pep Guardiola.
The player had important minutes in the duel against Yokohama Marinos in Japan. The footballer fitted in well in the club’s midfield and stood out in an important way. For this reason, Pep Guardiola took a great impression from the footballer and already leaves a message about what he could see of Kovacic in his first minutes as a citizen.
What did Pep Guardiola say about Kovacic’s debut?
“Really good. He is an exceptional player, we know it. It’s just the first game. He has to know us and what we want. But really, really good”. In this way, Pep approves what he saw in the Croatian, despite never having seen him play with his teammates before, taking into account that they all just returned from their vacations and are already beginning to take shape for this new season.