Manchester City midfielder reveals Pep Guardiola’s trade secret to improve his players | OneFootball

Nico Gonzalez has given an insight into his relationship with Pep Guardiola and how the Spanish manager has influenced his improvement on the pitch and in training since his arrival to the club in January.

Gonzalez, 23, moved to England when Manchester City signed the midfielder from Porto for a reported fee of £50 million to bolster their options in the holding midfield position after Ballon d’Or winner Rodri injured his ACL against Arsenal in September 2024.

The former Barcelona academy star, whose father Fran worked for Manchester City as an assistant academy coach, has recently revealed he turned his father down and knocked back the chance to sign for his current club when he was 16.

In an in-house interview with Manchester City’s official channels, Gonzalez has reflected on what it’s been like working with Guardiola during his first few months in a sky blue jersey and how the 54-year-old manager is already improving his latest midfield recruit.

“It’s really nice, I think I’ve learned a lot in the last few months. I think that I am improving a lot and viewing football in a different way, one that I haven’t viewed it from before,” said Nico prior to Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park last weekend.

“He (Guardiola) tries to remind me of certain things before every training, it’s so important. If he wants you to improve on something, at the beginning of every training session he’ll be speaking to you about it to remind you, so that you focus so much on learning that, to improve in that specific way.”

Gonzalez has done well to shoulder the number six burden alongside Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan since he joined Manchester City and Pep Guardiola is particularly excited to witness the 23-year-old’s development when Rodri returns to full first-team training.

Nico added: “I think that’s why you see so many players improve so much in such a short space of time, by concentrating on something in particular. I think what I’ve improved so much over the last few months is playing with more calmness, that way you make better decisions.”

Manchester City remain locked in the race to secure UEFA Champions League football next season and took a giant step towards a top five Premier League finish in midweek courtesy of a late Matheus Nunes winner to earn them a vital 2-1 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

Next up for the Blues is an FA Cup semi-final clash against Nottingham Forest at Wembley and Guardiola will be desperate to end what has truthfully been a largely disappointing campaign by all accounts on a strong note and securing Champions League football for the 2025-26 season.