Pep Guardiola wants to emulate the great Barcelona at Manchester City, with a team made up of young academy graduates.
Guardiola’s FC Barcelona won everything during his tenure, winning the international sextuplet in 2009 with a team dominated by La Masia youngsters. Messi was the best player in the world at the time, but he was more than supported by Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets and many others, all players who had cost the club nothing.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have also placed emphasis on academy players, with Phil Foden having been joined in the senior team by Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb in recent times. The Catalan tactician hopes to repeat what he did at the Camp Nou, creating a Barcelona 2.0 at the Eithad.
Pep: “We would very much like to imitate Barça”
“We would be delighted to imitate Barça,” he told the Telegraph’s Ian Whittell. “ I remember that in Barcelona we played two Champions League finals against Manchester United and that seven of our players came from the academy. »
“What does this mean (financially)? Nothing at all ! We didn’t make a profit because they were so good and we didn’t sell them. But that’s the dream. Players who love the club, who were born here.”
