Pep Guardiola has told Nico O'Reilly to avoid the pitfalls of stardom after the Manchester City academy graduate made his England debut.
Nico O'Reilly
Nico O'Reilly made his England debut during the international break
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Pep Guardiola has warned Nico O'Reilly to keep his feet on the ground after the Manchester City academy graduate continued his remarkable ascent with a first England cap during the international break.
The 20-year-old was barely part of the first-team picture at the Etihad this time last year, but he is now the man in possession of England's left-back spot ahead of the World Cup in the summer. O'Reilly has made just 13 Premier League starts but he played both games as the Three Lions beat Serbia and Albania in World Cup qualifiers last week.
With question marks over potential rivals for that position, O'Reilly could now find himself starting for England in the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Myles Lewis-Skelly is struggling for game time at Arsenal, Lewis Hall has been injured for Newcastle, Luke Shaw continues to be overlooked and options such as Tino Livramento and Djed Spence are right-backs who have filled in on the left.
That leaves O'Reilly with the chance to make the shirt his own and he is keeping £31million summer signing Rayan Ait-Nouri out of the City team at the moment. Guardiola was delighted to see O'Reilly make his England debut, but said he must now avoid the pitfalls that can come with a sudden rise to stardom.
"I’m happy for him, hopefully he can continue, be humble," he said. "Hopefully not be confused. Sometimes that age when you reach the highest level, play with your country, hopefully he can be stable.
"I’m delighted for the academy, all the people who worked with him since a little boy, all the managers and scouts, everyone involved in his development, to reach the national team it’s a big, big compliment."
While O'Reilly is just starting out at City, captain Bernardo Silva is towards the end of his Etihad career, but Guardiola was full of praise for his intelligent display against Liverpool two weeks ago.
The City boss repeated that in his press conference ahead of the trip to Newcastle and said the Portuguese midfielder was one of the best players he had ever worked with.
"Top, one of the best," he said. "He can do everything. He's not prolific in goals or assists, but he gives us and gives himself something that is not in the stats but he gives you a lot of things that are incredibly valuable for the team, his mentality, absolutely one of the best players I ever trained in my career."