Pep Guardiola has a hugely surprising plan up his sleeve at Manchester City.
Manchester City have been nowhere near their best this season, with Pep Guardiola struggling to get a tune out of his key players.
City’s 2024/25 season has been totally undermined by the injury that Rodri sustained back in September.
Things got so bad after Man City’s defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League that rumours began to circulate suggesting that Pep’s job wasn’t safe.
However, the Manchester City manager has brought so much success to the Etihad that he is pretty much bulletproof from being sacked.
- Read also: ‘Unplayable’ £41m Man City target’s agent tried to force Chelsea move, now there’s been a big U-turn
Pep is said to be plotting a huge squad overhaul in the summer transfer window.
Big changes are definitely needed if City are to force their way back to the top of the tree, both domestically and on the continent.
However, Pep may well be prepared to give some of the club’s talented youngsters a big chance to prove their worth as well.
Pep Guardiola has grand plans for Nico O’Reilly at Manchester City
Nico O’Reilly announced himself on one of the game’s biggest stages on Saturday.
The City youth product is a hugely talented midfielder, and the future looks very bright indeed for him.
The 19-year-old bagged two goals for Man City during their FA Cup win over Plymouth Argyle.
O’Reilly was truly exceptional and his performance was even more impressive given the fact that he played out of position in the left-back role.
Now Guardiola has grand plans for the talented City teenager.
According to The Athletic, the Man City boss has earmarked O’Reilly to provide cover for Rodri at the Etihad next season.
Pep obviously has Nico Gonzalez to compete for the so-called anchor man role, but he’s clearly planning to use the 19-year-old as defensive midfield cover as well.
Why Pep thinks O’Reilly is different to every youth player he’s seen
The Man City boss thinks the talented teen has a really unique profile.
He told the Athletic why O’Reilly is so different to any other youth player he has seen in the past:
“He’s not typical of the academy players because all the academy players are so small and skilful but he has a big big presence,” he said. “Normally, he is an attacking midfielder, a No 10 who arrives in the box really well but, for the problems we have, he adapted really well as a full-back.“
That’s huge praise indeed from Pep Guardiola, considering some of the fantastic talents he’s seen rising through the ranks at all three clubs he’s managed.
Nico O’Reilly clearly has a big future with Manchester City. However, what will be really interesting is to see which type of player he develops into.
Will he be a Rodri type player in the future? Perhaps an inverted full-back? Or even an attacking midfielder?
His versatility could end up being hugely important to Man City in the years to come.
