Pep Guardiola says City will do everything to try and help Claudio Echeverri make his mark in the Premier League and says ‘it’s a gift’ for the Argentine to be at the Etihad.
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The teenage attacking midfielder, who joined up with Pep’s squad in February of this year after originally signing in 2024 came on off the bench to make his City bow late on during Saturday’s FA Cup final loss to Crystal Palace.
The 19-year-old made an impressive immediate impact after being introduced in the 76th minute. He was agonisingly close to forcing a leveller on a number of occasions and threatened the Palace back line every time he got on the ball.
For Guardiola, it was a hugely encouraging opening to Echeverri’s City career.
And speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday’s final Etihad Premier League game of the season against Bournemouth, Guardiola said the fact Echeverri was so young and relatively inexperienced meant he could play with no fear.
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“Look at Claudio Echeverri, he played good, right?,” the boss said.
“He had three or four chances and every time he was around that box it was a dangerous situation.
“He has no past and his mind is clean and has nothing to defend in the past. Maybe in two years it will be different.
“But when you arrive, you’re keen and after that you demand more status from what you’ve done. But [for Claudio] it doesn’t exist.
“He played good. For him, it’s a gift to play here, he wants to prove he can play in the Premier League.
“Will he be able to? I don’t know. Will we be here to help him? We will try.
“This is the situation.”
Play the video to watch Pep’s press conference in full…