Pep Guardiola briefly basked in the praise of Manchester United’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe as he prepared for Sunday’s Etihad derby, although the City manager’s focus was on the future and the prospect of emulating Barcelona, in one specific area. .
Ratcliffe, 71, claimed in his first interviews after taking over the football business at United that the best performance he had ever seen was not produced by the club he had supported as a child and in which he had bought a 27.7 percent stake , but by Guardiola and City. by brushing aside Read Madrid in last season’s Champions League.
It was a surprising admission from the lifelong United supporter, a witness to so many great moments in his team’s history, and one that brought a smile to the City manager.
“It is [a compliment] – and I can only say: ‘Thank you very much’,” Guardiola said.
“Sometimes it is much more than a title when it comes to the compliments of personalities that make this country. Sir Jim Ratcliffe made these comments and it is a great honor for us all.
“Ultimately, football can evoke emotions and feelings in the players and if our rivals accept this, it will help us a lot to do our job. So thank you very much. I say that on behalf of all of us.
“But I am sure that tomorrow they will try to inoculate the United players with the best possible performance to beat us.”
But as he set his sights beyond Sunday’s derby, Guardiola also allowed himself to consider an area where City are quickly catching up with United and possibly even his old Barcelona team.
United’s youth production line is perhaps the most consistent and productive in football history. If Erik ten Hag includes a youth academy graduate in his matchday squad on Sunday, as he inevitably will, it will be a continuation of a United record dating back to 1937.
In more recent seasons, despite all the cash injections and big-name signings, City have overtaken their rivals in youth development, with Norwegian international Oscar Bobb having featured in Guardiola’s first team this season alongside Phil Foden and Rico Lewis. a new five-year contract this week.
It offers the possibility that City will one day emulate the great Barcelona team of Guardiola’s era, which won two Champions Leagues, coincidentally against United, with a majority of homegrown talent such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and of course Lionel Messi.
“We would love it,” Guardiola said. “I remember in Barcelona we played two Champions League finals against United, and seven of them came from the youth academy.
“What does it mean? Zero! We didn’t make a profit because they were so good and we didn’t sell them. But that’s the dream. Players who love the club, born here.
“Sometimes that is not possible because foreign players are so good. Erling Haaland is from Norway. We would love to have Erling from the academy, but you have to invest.
“We have sold a lot of young players in the last year who make us sustainable, but maybe they can play here, we will never know. At that moment they want to start playing and every situation is different.”
City’s success in developing players has not only produced current squad members, but has also helped balance the books, with a steady stream of player departures seen each summer. Cole Palmer’s £42.5m sale to Chelsea is the most high-profile recent example, but Southampton have signed six players from City’s academy in less than two years.
And with the current strict interpretation of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, Guardiola admits there is more emphasis than ever on the academy assembly lines, both to strengthen first-team squads and to generate revenue.
However, the city manager also sees a less tangible benefit in a successful academy.
“It’s more sustainable for the clubs and we always had the feeling, I don’t know why, that academy players who grew up here have something special that always works. Don’t ask me why, it always works,” he said.
“There are players here, but look what the Southampton players have done, and Cole at Chelsea and Tosin at Fulham for example.
“So they are always stable. The academy works very well and the Allied processes have been working very well every day for years. And this is every time it’s a little bit of something in your body that you understand the game, you understand a lot of things, the culture, whatever.
“When you play with young players it always works. Don’t ask me why, but it always works. It happened here, at the academy in Barcelona and Madrid, even at Bayern Munich.
“The clubs I have been to, the young players always have something and now with this situation, financial fair play, you are right: it is a way to be sustainable and it works.”
Erik ten Hag would undoubtedly agree, especially given the spectacular development of his 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo this season. And Guardiola admits having local players in the dressing room can add something to derby day.
“I think they know the reality. They have been to the Etihad Stadium many times,” he said. “They see the environment, smell what is happening in the club and adapt more quickly.
“Foreign players come, or from other clubs, and they need some time to adapt. Here it is like a home. They know the reaction of the fans, they feel comfortable, the way to play and they click quickly.
‘It happens, you’re right, and I’m pretty sure United players, or Liverpool players, or Chelsea players, they have something. I think they believe, ‘It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s my home.’
“So you want to protect. The move from the academy to the first team gives them confidence. It’s easy.”