Juanma Lillo has shared details on what it was that led to new Manchester City signing, Matheus Nunes, catching the attention of Pep Guardiola.
The Manchester club recently signed the midfielder from Wolves in a deal worth £53m, 18 months after Guardiola labelled Nunes as one of the best players in the world following his performance for Sporting CP against City in the Champions League back in February 2022.
Now though, the man in temporary charge of the treble winners has shared some insight into what it was that they admired about the 25-year-old.
Lillo shares what Guardiola saw in Nunes
Speaking in a recent press conference ahead of this afternoon’s Premier League match against Fulham, Lillo had this to say about Nunes.
He said: “Pep has already made reference to Matheus a while back. It surprised us when we played Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League. He surprised us.
“In that game it was 5-0 but everything happened quick in that game, it wasn’t a real scoreline. He carried on playing throughout that game, showing a personality and will to play.
“He did things very well and also the hard work he put in. He has the understanding of a collective team. That put us on guard, we thought ‘this player?’ We started looking at him with an objective to following him. It’s not a surprise he will offer many things in the future.”
After making 101 senior appearances for Sporting, where he scored eight goals and provided nine assists, the midfielder joined Wolves last summer in a deal worth £38m.
The previous Premier League season saw Nunes feature in 34 of Wolves’ 38 matches, playing in a variety of different midfield roles, highlighting his versatility and intelligence.
Looking back on the 5-0 win over Sporting, even though the Portuguese side had a difficult night, the fact that Nunes still managed to capture the attention of Guardiola and his coaching staff shows how much of an impressive character he is, especially since his side were struggling in the game.
Moving forward, if the newest City recruit can show the sort of attributes that first put him on the club’s radar last year and develop his game even further under Guardiola’s coaching, he could definitely become a top player at the Etihad Stadium.
