Manchester City’s pre-season tour of America has given many young players the chance to prove themselves to Pep Guardiola.
Prior to their final match of the tour against Chelsea, the Blues had taken on Celtic, AC Milan and Barcelona, losing two and drawing one of those games.
With many senior players still on holiday following their involvement in the summer’s international tournaments, Guardiola has had the chance to see numerous youngsters train and play with the handful of first-team figures in the squad.
In fact, a former City player has highlighted one young talent currently with the Citizens in America and even made a claim about how he could become just like another former City legend.
- READ MORE: Who is Yaya Toure? Tuck into the Man City hero’s life who was crucial to the club reaching glory
Shaun Wright-Phillips claims Nico O’Reilly could be Man City’s next Yaya Toure
After seeing Nico O’Reilly score a goal in City’s 2-2 draw against Barcelona, Shaun Wright-Phillips had this to say about him in a livestream shared on the club’s YouTube channel prior to their match against Chelsea.
He said: “It just amazes me how many quality left midfielders in that similar position that City have built and made into the player they are and he’s just another one but just taller.
“If he fills out, he might have a build like Yaya where once he gets going, if he gets to that physical presence with the way he dribbles with the ball, it’ll be very hard to knock him off the ball.”
O’Reilly could be an exciting player for City
During his time at City between 2010 and 2018, Toure made 316 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 80 goals, delivering 47 assists and winning numerous trophies along the way including three Premier League trophies.
Back in February, James Ward-Prowse said that the Ivorian was so difficult to get the ball off and play against.
In 75 appearances for City’s youth ranks, O’Reilly has found the back of the net 27 times and supplied 19 assists, showing how similar he is to Toure in terms of being able to deliver goal contributions from midfield.
Given how much of an impact Toure had at the Manchester club, if O’Reilly can go on to have a similar sort of effect in City’s first team, he’ll be a very successful player for them.
