“When can I go?!” – Manchester City midfielder reveals initial reaction to Pep Guardiola interest | OneFootball

Nico Gonzalez has provided a detailed insight into his first few months at Manchester City, life in England and what it’s like working with Pep Guardiola in an in-house club interview.

The 23-year-old has quickly established himself as a key player for Guardiola since his January arrival from Porto for £50 million to bolster Manchester City’s prospects in the holding midfield position for the season run-in.

City are locked in a tight race for UEFA Champions League qualification for the 2025-26 campaign and will take on Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley at the weekend after coming from behind to beat Bournemouth in the quarter-final in March.

Gonzalez has been a reliable stand-in and has shared the workload in the number six position alongside Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan, with Guardiola particularly excited about how much Gonzalez will improve when he starts training with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri when the latter fully recovers from an ACL injury sustained last year.

Speaking in a club in-house interview prior to Manchester City’s 2-0 win away at Everton last weekend, Nico said: “For sure, I feel part of the group already. Everyone is very welcoming, there are young players, older players, but everyone is really close.

“We have a lot of fun in the dressing room – we play some games before training and I’m really enjoying being here. To be honest it’s really nice – not only in the club which is obviously all perfect, but the city and everything, it’s been really good.

“Of course, it was an easy decision. I didn’t have to think twice about it, when they call you and it’s a team like Man City – it’s easy to say, ‘When can I go?’. When they told me to travel, I didn’t even need to think about it.”

Nico’s father Fran Gonzalez worked at Manchester City as an assistant academy coach and the Spanish midfielder has recently revealed he turned down the opportunity to sign for the Blues when he was 16 in favour of Barcelona.

“I am getting used to life here (in Manchester, England) really well. I am actually liking it a lot. It’s not such a big city, but everything is really close, and I really like living in Manchester,” Nico added.

“I feel I’m arriving at not the worst moment because the weather has not been that bad. Every time there is a  good day, people tell me not to get used to it – but to be honest, there have been a lot more good days than bad since I arrived. Maybe I am lucky. Maybe I brought the sunshine with me!”