One of the biggest draws of playing for Manchester City for any player would be to hone their craft under Pep Guardiola and hit new heights in their careers.
Guardiola is considered a legendary manager and taking his track record of improving players and winning silverware into account, players across the world would dream of working with him.
Murillo admitted he would join Manchester City at the drop of a hat if the Catalan tactician requested to work with him, which goes to show the respect the two-time treble-winner commands.
As Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain seem to be working diligently to rebuild City’s squad, their job of attracting players may have been made easier due to the Pep Guardiola factor.
Man City target Rayan Ait-Nouri calls Pep Guardiola a “great coach”
One of the players who the Sky Blues hope to sign as quickly as possible is Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Wolves believe Ait-Nouri will join Manchester City in what seems to be a relatively straightforward transfer for the Sky Blues to pull off.
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
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As things stand, the latest update surrounding Manchester City and Ait-Nouri is that Pep Guardiola and Co have yet to have made an offer to sign the 23-year-old.
But the Algerian was quoted by TSA Algerie as he lauded Guardiola despite playing down his links to the Etihad Stadium: “I’m focusing on the national team. We’ll see. The most important thing is the two matches we’re going to play with the national team. Everyone knows that Pep Guardiola is a great coach.”
Algerian players to have played for Manchester City
Considering Ait-Nouri has said yes to Manchester City already, it seems like only a matter of time until he starts working with Pep Guardiola.
However, the Wolves left-back would not be the first player from his nation to represent City.
In total, five Algerian players have played for Manchester City.
ALGERIAN PLAYERS AT MANCHESTER CITY MATCHES PLAYED
RIYAD MAHREZ 236
ALI BENARBIA 78
DJAMEL BELMADI 8
DJAMEL ABDOUN 1
KARIM KERKAR 0
Riyad Mahrez and Ali Benarbia are the obvious standouts from the aforementioned names.
Mahrez, in particular, who scored 78 goals in 236 games for City while winning four Premier League titles, the treble, three Carabao Cups and two FA Cup trophies.
The Al-Ahli winger’s impact was such that Paul Merson feels Manchester City still miss Mahrez.
Ait-Nouri will be hoping to replicate his countryman and become a key player under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.