Young defender Luke Mbete has made an amusing claim about Pep Guardiola, after the Spaniard gave him his professional debut.
Mbete is currently out in the US with the squad for pre-season, and he featured in the 4-3 defeat to Celtic in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Mbete, who joined the City academy in 2016 from Brentford, spent last season on loan at Dutch club Den Bosch, where he managed to get regular football.
But he is now back with City and back in front of Pep Guardiola – and seeking to make an impression.
With many players being given extra time off after being involved at international tournaments, there is a window of opportunity for all of City’s youngsters in the US at the moment.
Luke Mbete shares what it’s like working with Pep Guardiola and makes amusing claim
Pre-season is always very useful for young players at City, because there are lots of opportunities to pick the brains of arguably the greatest footballer manager of all time.
Guardiola is running the rule over everyone at the moment, and City’s players of tomorrow stand to learn a lot about the game during this period.
At this point, everyone knows how intense a coach Guardiola is, and that is very much a perfectionist.
But Pep can also be quite easy-going according to Mbete, who made an amusing claim about the time Pep gave him his professional debut back in September 2021 in an EFL Cup game against Wycombe Wanderers.
He said (via Daily Mail): “I have been lucky enough to work under him. He has taught me so much and made me understand the game in different ways. I’m just so grateful to have come across him during my pathway.
“After I made my professional debut, Pep told me to buy him a bottle of wine – which I haven’t done yet! I still need to do that actually. But, Pep is a really great guy and someone I have absolutely loved working under. I couldn’t be more grateful to him for giving me the opportunity and allowing me to work under him.”
Pep is known for his love of wine, and this is a line that he also used when Oscar Bobb earned his first call-up to the Norway national team. He joked at the time: “My reaction? I said to him ‘You have to bring a bottle of wine to your manager, me, not Solbakken. I helped you to be there!'”
Mbete also recently called training under Pep ‘a beautiful experience’.
Working under Pep must be special
It must actually be such an amazing experience training under Pep.
He has achieved so much in the game, and he has also won a lot of trophies.
It is common knowledge how much of a details man he is and it must be extremely intense for players regardless of what stage of their careers they’re at.
It is nice to hear from Mbete that Pep can be light-hearted and there are plenty of videos out there to show this. Just yesterday, City released footage of a relaxed Pep engaging in a game with his players.
