Former Manchester City striker and club icon Paul Dickov has offered ‘fact’ around Pep Guardiola’s current feeling on his side’s transitional period ahead of the new season.
The reigning Premier League champions have endured one of their most difficult seasons in recent times this campaign, struggling to secure a top-five finish that would ensure a UEFA Champions League place for next year.
Injuries and fitness problems have hampered the squad and have largely been credited as being the reason why Guardiola’s side have been unable to seriously compete for the very biggest honours as they usually would.
One slight glimmer of hope in the season comes via the FA Cup and Manchester City’s place in the semi-final stage, as Nottingham Forest stand between them and a third consecutive final in the competition.
But while some within the game have suggested that manager Pep Guardiola may be struggling mentally with the challenges and lack of solutions to many of his footballing problems this season, others within the club are insisting otherwise.
Speaking during a recent media conversation, as relayed by FourFourTwo, former Manchester City striker Paul Dickov said on the aforementioned 54-year-old head coach, “I think Pep (Guardiola)’s thriving on it at the moment.”
The 1999 play-off final hero continued, “I know people are saying he’s looking stressed, but he’s never been in this position before.
“And I know for a fact he’s looking forward to building the team and going again.”
Much of the rebuild will likely centre around the transfer market for Manchester City and their ability to refresh positions that some believe have been allowed to become stale over the last two seasons.
A lot of that thinking is built around the centre of the park and the club’s ageing options, as shown through a lack of energy and legs to get the ball moving quicker throughout the pitch, despite that notion firmly rejected by Bernardo Silva in a recent interview.
And that rebuild in midfield has already started, with the club confirming last week that they had made the decision not to renew Kevin De Bruyne’s contract and allow the Belgian to leave the Etihad Stadium after a decade at the end of the ongoing campaign.
