Former Manchester City midfielder Elano has hailed Pep Guardiola, and revealed he gets ‘angry’ seeing him because of how much he wishes he could have played under him.
The Brazilian recently gave an interview with the club, the second part of which is now available on the club’s official website.
City have enjoyed an incredible seven years with Guardiola at the helm. The Spaniard came to the club in the summer of 2016 with the goal of making City a dominant force in English football.
After taking a season to work things out and make changes to the squad, he has certainly now achieved his goal.
City fans have been treated to some mesmerising football down the years, and Pep has been able to deliver a plethora of trophies along the way.
It is always remarkable to see how he extracts the absolute most out of the players he works with. And Elano has now stressed how much he wishes he could have played under him…
Elano hails Pep Guardiola and wishes he could have played under him at Manchester City
Elano signed for City back in 2007 from Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk, with the club paying around £8 million. He would only stay a couple of seasons at the Etihad, but became a firm favourite with the fans for his flair and ability to take a mean free-kick.
Elano still takes an interest in what his former club are doing.
And he, like many others, has been blown away by Pep’s work at the Etihad.
He told the club: “That was my dream too (to play under Pep), you know? I talk to some friends, we talk a lot about football.
“For you to become great, you have to work with the best. And when you have this, I, thank God, my career there was very positive, because I had great managers.
“And great managers, great commanders elevate your level of play, the level of demand, the quality level, the mental level, that today we talk a lot about mental issues, but the athletes, the managers I had were managers who have helped me a lot throughout my life. All of them. Every one of them.
“So I think that elevated my level of competition. But when I see Guardiola near the field, I get angry thinking like: ‘How I wish I had been that guy’s player!'”
Many other former City players probably feel the same
It is fascinating to think about how good some former City players could have been under Pep.
Recently, Joleon Lescott actually suggested that Samir Nasri was a player who could have been absolutely amazing under Pep had he come to the club a couple of years earlier.
He really is fantastic at unlocking the potential of players.
Elano could be a spectacular player for City back in the day, and was the type of technician Pep really likes today.
It is little wonder the South American really wishes he could have been managed by the current City boss. It’s likely there are a few others from that era who feel the same, seeing how successful he is.
